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As displaced families return to northern Gaza, many are refusing to leave behind the bodies of loved ones killed during the war, choosing instead to rebury them in cemeteries closer to home. This allows families to visit the graves regularly and keep the memory of the people they lost alive.
Amal Abu Al Eish, 48, a resident of Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood in Gaza city and a mother of seven, is among those who had to make that difficult decision. Her 17-year-old daughter Hanan was killed in an Israeli air strike and buried in an agricultural plot in Khan Younis, the southern city to which the family fled after the war between Israel and Hamas began in October 2023.
“I told my husband and children: 'if my martyred daughter’s body doesn’t return before me to the north, then I will never return'. She is my soul, the light of my heart, and my entire life,’” Ms Abu Al Eish told The National.
After informing the relevant authorities at the local hospital, the family was provided with a burial bag and was able to retrieve Hanan's remains.
“We transported her with us in the car and reburied her in Sheikh Radwan Cemetery, near our home, so I could continue to visit her, talk to her whenever I miss her and be close to her," Ms Abu Al Eish said.
“When they opened my daughter's grave, all I wished for was to embrace her. Throughout the journey, I sat beside her, talking to her, wishing she could respond. It was agonising to travel all that distance with my daughter’s body, sitting beside her, yet knowing she could not hear me.”
Rabah Al Masri, 53, from Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, is a father of nine. Two of his sons, Mohammed, 22, and Bahaa, 19, were killed in an Israeli air strike on tents housing displaced people in Al Mawasi, Khan Younis, six months ago. They were buried in a temporary grave in a private plot of land.
Mr Al Masri found his home completely destroyed when he returned to Beit Hanoun but that did not deter him. He decided to head back south with his family to fetch their belongings and his sons' bodies, then return north to live in a tent next to the rubble of his home.
"The first thing that came to our minds was moving the bodies of our two sons. I had dreamt of seeing them married and becoming the best of people, but God took them.”
After notifying the Ministry of Endowments and the Ministry of Health, Mr Al Masri received burial bags and proceeded to exhume his sons' remains. They were placed in a car and taken back north in a trip that took more than 15 hours due to stops at checkpoints, he said. Mohammed and Bahaa were finally laid to rest in a cemetery close to where the family home once stood.
“It was an indescribably painful experience. The heartbreak of moving your martyred sons from one place to another, knowing they are now lifeless, with no way to speak to them, embrace them or feel their presence as before, it is a pain beyond words.”
Aware that many families want to do the same, the Ministry of Endowments has issued guidance on how to ensure reburials are conducted in accordance with Islamic regulations.
Speaking to The National, the ministry's media officer Ikrami Al Madallal said Gaza has 60 cemeteries, some of which were already full before the war, while others reached capacity during the 15-month bombardment of the strip. The ministry is now working with authorities to establish new graveyards.
“The transfer of any body cannot be done randomly," Mr Al Madallal said. "All transfers must be co-ordinated with the Ministry of Endowments, the Ministry of Local Governance and other relevant government bodies to maintain order and uphold the sanctity of the deceased."
Defending champions
World Series: South Africa
Women’s World Series: Australia
Gulf Men’s League: Dubai Exiles
Gulf Men’s Social: Mediclinic Barrelhouse Warriors
Gulf Vets: Jebel Ali Dragons Veterans
Gulf Women: Dubai Sports City Eagles
Gulf Under 19: British School Al Khubairat
Gulf Under 19 Girls: Dubai Exiles
UAE National Schools: Al Safa School
International Invitational: Speranza 22
International Vets: Joining Jack
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Getting there
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Tbilisi from Dh1,025 return including taxes
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
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Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
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The Year Earth Changed
Directed by:Tom Beard
Narrated by: Sir David Attenborough
Stars: 4
'The Lost Daughter'
Director: Maggie Gyllenhaal
Starring: Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Dakota Johnson
Rating: 4/5
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PROFILE OF HALAN
Started: November 2017
Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport and logistics
Size: 150 employees
Investment: approximately $8 million
Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates, Etihad and Swiss fly direct from the UAE to Zurich from Dh2,855 return, including taxes.
The chalet
Chalet N is currently open in winter only, between now and April 21. During the ski season, starting on December 11, a week’s rental costs from €210,000 (Dh898,431) per week for the whole property, which has 22 beds in total, across six suites, three double rooms and a children’s suite. The price includes all scheduled meals, a week’s ski pass, Wi-Fi, parking, transfers between Munich, Innsbruck or Zurich airports and one 50-minute massage per person. Private ski lessons cost from €360 (Dh1,541) per day. Halal food is available on request.
TOURNAMENT INFO
Opening fixtures:
Friday, Oct 5
8pm: Kabul Zwanan v Paktia Panthers
Saturday, Oct 6
4pm: Nangarhar Leopards v Kandahar Knights
8pm: Kabul Zwanan v Balkh Legends
Tickets
Tickets can be bought online at https://www.q-tickets.com/apl/eventlist and at the ticket office at the stadium.
TV info
The tournament will be broadcast live in the UAE on OSN Sports.
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Gertrude Bell's life in focus
A feature film
At one point, two feature films were in the works, but only German director Werner Herzog’s project starring Nicole Kidman would be made. While there were high hopes he would do a worthy job of directing the biopic, when Queen of the Desert arrived in 2015 it was a disappointment. Critics panned the film, in which Herzog largely glossed over Bell’s political work in favour of her ill-fated romances.
A documentary
A project that did do justice to Bell arrived the next year: Sabine Krayenbuhl and Zeva Oelbaum’s Letters from Baghdad: The Extraordinary Life and Times of Gertrude Bell. Drawing on more than 1,000 pieces of archival footage, 1,700 documents and 1,600 letters, the filmmakers painstakingly pieced together a compelling narrative that managed to convey both the depth of Bell’s experience and her tortured love life.
Books, letters and archives
Two biographies have been written about Bell, and both are worth reading: Georgina Howell’s 2006 book Queen of the Desert and Janet Wallach’s 1996 effort Desert Queen. Bell published several books documenting her travels and there are also several volumes of her letters, although they are hard to find in print. Original documents are housed at the Gertrude Bell Archive at the University of Newcastle, which has an online catalogue.
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
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