AFTER nearly three years beneath the rubble, the bodies of 112 Palestinians from the Abu Sharia and Al-Hasayna families, killed in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza City, were finally laid to rest yesterday in one of the largest mass funerals since the outbreak of the war on Gaza.
The funeral procession drew a huge crowd.
The 308 victims’ bodies were recovered from a single site that had been inaccessible for months due to ongoing Israeli military operations.
Yesterday’s funeral came as hundreds of Palestinian families are still waiting for the bodies of their loved ones to be recovered from under the rubble, as search operations continue in several locations that were inaccessible during the fighting.
- Hamas, along with other Palestinian factions, is abiding by the terms of the ceasefire’s second phase – but all parties must fulfil their commitments under the agreement.
In a statement yesterday, a Hamas official said his Movement expects a clear official reply from Board of Peace director-general Nickolay Mladenov and mediators on the recent understandings.
His remarks came after a statement by the Board of Peace mentioned terms that differ from the recent understandings reached between Palestinian factions and mediators concerning the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire.
Following a meeting between Mladenov and Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, the US-led Board of Peace said that an Israeli military withdrawal from Gaza will only take place after the disarmament of Hamas is complete.
- The Palestinian Authority Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates has condemned Israel’s continued violations of the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip and its ongoing aggression and massacres against Palestinian civilians.
Their statement yesterday, said Israel’s continued breaches of the ceasefire agreement stemming from the US president’s peace plan, its failure to uphold its commitments under the agreement, and its undermining of ongoing mediation efforts demonstrate the Israeli government’s ‘lack of political will to end the aggression, respect its obligations, and halt a plan of genocide and displacement against Palestinians in Gaza.’
The Ministry said Israel’s continued targeting of civilians, vital infrastructure and humanitarian facilities, along with its ongoing policies of killing, destruction and starvation, despite the existence of a clear ceasefire agreement, demonstrates that the current Israeli government does not view the agreement as an obligation to be respected, but rather as a temporary tool to manage the aggression and reshape realities in line with its objectives.
It added that these objectives include prolonging the war, continuing what it described as genocide, and implementing plans for the forced displacement of the Palestinian people.
The Ministry called on the US administration, mediating and guarantor states, and the international community to take effective measures to compel Israel, as the occupying power, to respect the ceasefire agreement and fulfil its obligations.
