International

Gaza Faces Severe Shortage of Burial Space Amid War and Displacement

23 August 2026 19:08 PM

NEWS DESK

Amid the devastation of war and mass displacement in Gaza, families are now facing another grim crisis: finding a place to bury their dead.

Alongside the deaths of thousands of people in Israeli attacks, numerous cemeteries have been destroyed. As a result, families seeking to bury relatives have been forced to reuse old graves, create makeshift burial sites or bury the dead amid the rubble of destroyed areas.

Mohammad Al-Sawhi, 40, the father of 20-year-old Omar Al-Sawhi, was killed by gunfire on June 10 near an Israeli-designated military area known as the “Yellow Line” in Gaza.

Mohammad had been selling tea and coffee at a small roadside shop in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighbourhood when a bullet suddenly struck his neck. He died almost immediately at the scene.

When Omar went to the Zeitoun cemetery to bury his father, he found that almost no space remained for new graves. Most of the densely packed graves belonged to Palestinians killed during the war, and many had no permanent markers. In some cases, only a stone or a piece of paper bearing the name of the deceased marked the grave.

Standing in the cemetery, Omar said he could see countless graves, with people buried beneath piles of sand. Many graves had only a stone and a piece of paper identifying the deceased, as families no longer had the resources or space to prepare graves as they did before the war.

A new grave now costs around 500 shekels, or $167, according to local authorities. Omar’s family could not afford the expense, while finding an available plot was also nearly impossible. Eventually, they were forced to bury Mohammad in his grandfather’s grave.

The war has severely disrupted hospitals, municipal services and other civilian infrastructure in Gaza. Continued attacks have also made it difficult to identify and recover many bodies in time. Thousands of Palestinians killed at different stages of the conflict have been listed as missing.

Many bodies have been temporarily buried in residential yards, tents, displacement camps, schools and hospital grounds.

Following a ceasefire announced in October 2025 with US mediation, the intensity of Israeli attacks in Gaza temporarily decreased. The lull gave many families an opportunity to recover the remains of relatives from destroyed homes or temporary graves and rebury them.

According to Gaza authorities, at least 1,200 Palestinians have been killed even since the ceasefire was announced, creating a renewed need for burial space. Authorities also said the remains of 529 Palestinians had been recovered from seven mass graves located on hospital grounds.

The shortage of burial space is not solely the result of the enormous death toll. Many cemeteries themselves have also been destroyed during the war.

According to Gaza’s Ministry of Religious Affairs and Endowments, more than 40 cemeteries have been destroyed since the conflict began.

There have also been complaints that strict restrictions on access to cemeteries in areas under Israeli control have further limited families’ ability to find suitable burial sites.

Israeli bombardment and evacuation orders have forced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to leave their homes. As a result, some areas previously designated as cemeteries are now being used as shelters for displaced people.

A shortage of grave markers and other construction materials has also driven up burial costs. Gaza authorities estimate that the cost of a burial now ranges between 700 and 1,000 shekels, or roughly $235 to $335.

Unable to afford permanent headstones, some families are using bricks and stones salvaged from destroyed buildings, mud or corrugated metal sheets to mark graves temporarily.

Tafesh, a worker at the Khan Younis cemetery, described the scale of the devastation.

Before the war, the cemetery had around 60 graves. It now contains roughly 6,000. At one point during the conflict, Tafesh had to prepare about 35 graves every day.

He said he had never witnessed such extensive bloodshed. Almost every day, dozens of people are brought to the cemetery for burial.

Many of the dead brought to him are women and children, including newborn babies. In some cases, Israeli strikes completely destroy a house, vehicle or tent, and the remains of several members of the same family are brought to the cemetery together.

“They destroy our homes over our heads, and we build our graves from the rubble of those homes,” Tafesh said.

In Gaza, therefore, the horrors of war extend far beyond the displacement of survivors and the destruction of homes and infrastructure. For many families, securing a final resting place—a grave—for their loved ones has itself become a painful and difficult struggle.

GAZA grim crisis Burial Space