Overview
- Rescue teams recovered 112 sets of remains from a collapsed residential block in Sabra and held a mass funeral on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, for members of the Abu Shari'a and al‑Hasayna families.
- Civil Defence crews said the recovery took about 17 days in July using mostly hand tools and one rented excavator, and the ICRC confirmed it hired two of the few excavators available in Gaza to assist the work.
- Many recovered bodies were in an advanced state of decomposition and some could only be identified by clothing or personal items, while Civil Defence officials said some victims’ remains may have been obliterated by the blast.
- Authorities reported that about 157 people from that block remain unlocated and that thousands more across Gaza are still believed trapped under rubble, with Palestinian agencies giving differing missing‑person estimates.
- The exhumation highlighted strict limits on heavy machinery and constrained access through Israeli‑controlled crossings, renewing calls for international assistance to clear debris, recover the dead, and speed reconstruction.