In Gaza, the recovery work was carried out by the Civil Defence, which operates under the Hamas-run interior ministry. Its efforts have been supported by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

“We provide material support – literally the gloves, shovels, protective equipment and body bags they use,” said Patrick Griffiths, spokesperson for the ICRC.

“We provide training, supporting them to do their work safely, in line with professional practice ensuring the deceased are treated with dignity. And we’ve supported them by renting – for hundreds of hours – two of the only excavators available for this work in Gaza.”

“It’s not an answer any family wants to receive – confirmation that your loved one has been killed,” Griffiths added. “But it’s essential towards them receiving closure and being able to mourn their loss in their own way.”

Last month, the BBC filmed the start of the operation to uncover bodies in Sabra. A single bulldozer picked through the rubble and then more delicate work was done by hand.

“This multi-storey building has been levelled. There were maybe more than 180 civilians inside. Most of them, around 90%, were killed,” Civil Defence spokesman Mohammed Basel said at the time.

“On that day [of the strikes], the Civil Defence crews couldn’t get to the site because it needed co-ordination [with Israel via a third party such as the ICRC] and there was great danger in reaching the area.”

Relatives of the dead were at the scene to guide the recovery crews during the recovery work. They said they had retrieved as many bodies as they could immediately after the attack and were relieved to be able to give others a proper burial.

“It’s a devastating and sad feeling that resonates with everyone who was here,” said Nahed al-Hassayna, as he showed the BBC the rubble of his family’s living room.

“The kids – what did they do?” he asked, holding up the possessions of two of his young relatives. “This was a school backpack for Omar, and this was Ibrahim’s shoe. Why? Why were they killed?”

“I’m the sole survivor of my family,” said Yousef Abu Sharia, standing nearby. “Today, I’m talking to you [as] the one who lost my mother, my father, my uncle and my cousins and all my family. I lost them under this rubble.”

It is believed that dozens more bodies are yet to be recovered at the site.

Across the Gaza Strip, thousands more people are unaccounted for. The remains of many are thought to be under the rubble left by intense Israeli air strikes during the war.

The funeral ceremonies are taking place less than three weeks after Iran and the US signed a preliminary agreement to end the war and reopen the crucial Strait of Hormuz waterway, through which 20% of global oil and gas shipments pass.

The two countries also gave themselves two months to reach a final deal that covers Iran’s nuclear programme, US sanctions and a permanent truce.

Mediator Qatar said Iranian and US negotiators made “positive progress” at indirect talks in Doha last week following a four-day exchange of strikes and that their next meeting would be scheduled after the conclusion of the events for Khamenei.

On Tuesday, there will be a funeral procession and prayers in the central city of Qom, the centre of Iran’s Shia Muslim clerical establishment.

The ceremonies will then move to the Iraqi shrine cities of Karbala and Najaf on Wednesday.

They will end on Thursday, when Khamenei will be buried at the Imam Reza shrine in his home city of Mashhad, in north-eastern Iran.

Vast crowds loyal to the Islamic Republic have gathered in Tehran at a funeral ceremony for Iran’s former supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in joint US-Israeli strikes at the start of the war.

His second son and successor, Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, was conspicuously absent from his father’s funeral. Ali Khamenei’s other three sons – Masoud, Mostafa and Meysam – all attended the service held in the capital on Sunday.

Iranian state media say six days of ceremonies will span several locations across Iran and neighbouring Iraq, before the late ayatollah is buried in his hometown of Mashhad on Thursday.

The BBC’s chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet is reporting from Tehran on condition that none of her material is used on the BBC’s Persian Service. These restrictions apply to all international media organisations operating in Iran.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei was conspicuously absent from his father’s funeral, as senior regime figures joined thousands paying their respects to the late ayatollah on Sunday.

Ali Khamenei’s other three sons – Masoud, Mostafa and Meysam – all attended the service on Sunday, alongside officials including President Masoud Pezeshkian and Revolutionary Guards chief Ahmad Vahidi.

Speculation about Mojtaba’s condition – fuelled by rumours he was wounded in the same US-Israel air strikes that killed his father – has continued as he has not appeared in public since his appointment in early March.

The elder Khamenei ruled the Islamic republic from 1989 until his death in February.

Official funeral proceedings for late supreme leader began on Friday, with events planned across Iran and Iraq over the coming week.

Iranian authorities say 12-20 million people are expected to attend the ceremonies, which they are calling the “funeral of the century”.

Khamenei’s body is currently lying in state at Tehran’s Grand Mosalla religious complex, with a funeral service led by prominent Shia cleric Jafar Sobhani, a 97-year-old scholar who teaches at seminaries in the holy city of Qom.

Vast crowds of Iranians loyal to the Islamic Republic have gathered in Tehran for the first day of funeral ceremonies for the country’s former supreme leader.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in joint US-Israeli airstrikes at the start of the war.

Iranian state media say six days of ceremonies will span several locations across Iran and neighbouring Iraq, before he is buried in his hometown of Mashhad on Thursday.

The BBC’s chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet is in Tehran as people prepare to head to the vast complex where the former supreme leader is lying in state.

The BBC’s chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet is reporting from Tehran on condition that none of her material is used on the BBC’s Persian Service. These restrictions apply to all international media organisations operating in Iran.

BBC International correspondent Nawal Al Maghafi reports from Tehran, where authorities say they expect millions to take part in funeral commemorations for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The former supreme leader of Iran was killed more than four months ago in US and Israeli strikes at the start of the war.

Huge crowds of black-clad mourners have already gathered at Tehran’s Grand Mosalla mosque, where his body is lying in state ahead of his burial in his hometown of Mashhad, next Thursday.

The BBC’s Senior international correspondent Nawal Al Maghafi is reporting from Tehran on condition that none of her material is used on the BBC’s Persian Service. These restrictions apply to all international media organisations operating in Iran.

Large crowds of black-clad mourners have gathered outside Tehran’s main mosque to pay their respects to Iran’s former supreme leader on the first day of his funeral comemorations.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s body is currently lying in state at the Grand Mosalla, ahead of his eventual burial in his hometown of Mashhad next Thursday.

Authorities expect 15-20 million people to attend the ceremonies across Iran and Iraq over the coming days, which take place more than four months after Khamenei was killed in US and Israeli strikes.

Masses of supporters of the Islamic regime turned out on Saturday morning, reportedly chanting slogans against the US and in support of revenge for the ayatollah’s killing.

“We came [to the funeral] because we promised the supreme leader we would stand by him to the very end,” 37-year-old professor Reza told news agency AFP in the Grand Mosalla’s courtyard.

“For a long time, we shouted that we would sacrifice our lives for the leader, but it was he who sacrificed himself for us.”

Arash Rahimi, 40, told Reuters: “Everyone here has come to avenge the blood of their supreme leader.

“As our leader has said, we have a blood feud with the United States. Our relations with the United States will never be good.”

Khamenei was killed during joint Israeli and US strikes on Iran in late February, in what quickly spiralled into a wider regional conflict.

US President Donald Trump said Iran’s government was “dying to settle” a peace deal to end the war after a preliminary agreement was struck between the two, adding on Friday: “We gave them [Iran] a week off for a funeral because we’re nice.”

Much of central Tehran will be locked down over the weekend as the funeral ceremony gets under way. It is expected to be the largest funeral ever in terms of attendees as a proportion of the country’s population.

Khamenei’s body will lie in the Grand Mosalla for three days, alongside the remains of family members who were also killed in the air strikes.

There will then be three further days of events outside of the capital.

Seven people were killed and dozens injured when an airstrike hit a funeral gathering in the Nuba Mountains in West Kordofan last Friday, according to local sources, said UN aid coordination office, OCHA.

The war, which began in April 2023 between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia and the Sudanese Armed Forces, continues to have alarming consequence for civilians. 

The funeral strike follows a drone attack on the Teaching Hospital in East Darfur’s capital, Al Deain, that killed 70 on 20 March. 

The heightened insecurity continues to displace families in West Kordofan, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). 

In neighbouring South Kordofan, drone strikes and attacks in the town of Dilling reportedly caused three deaths on Saturday, with reports from local NGOs that the humanitarian situation is rapidly deteriorating. 

Humanitarian access sputters

The continued fighting and repeated drone strikes are also disrupting critical supply routes across the Kordofan region.

Key roads linking the city of El Obeid in North Kordofan to the towns of Dilling and Kadugli in South Kordofan are increasingly unsafe, which has the direct impact of hampering the movement of humanitarian supplies and commercial supplies. 

“Red tape is further compounding these challenges”, the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General, Stéphane Dujarric said, “with essential medical activities in El Obeid suspended for nearly one month now.”

Meanwhile in Darfur, increasing insecurity and restriction on humanitarian movements are choking humanitarian access. 

Aid workers face armed robberies and attacks along key routes, while some organizations have been forced to suspend operations altogether, leaving vulnerable populations with even fewer services.

Skirmishes near Ethiopian border

Similarly, escalating hostilities near the border with Ethiopia in Blue Nile State have severely constrained humanitarian operations. Movement beyond the state capital of Ed Damazine is largely suspended, cutting off access to reach people in need.

Because of growing insecurity, in recent days more than 1,600 people have been displaced in the Blue Nile State locality of Geisan, the migration agency reports. 

Despite these challenges, the UN and its partners continue to respond to needs across Sudan. The UN’s humanitarian relief coordinator, OCHA reiterates that civilians must be protected at all times, as required by international humanitarian law.

“Attacks on civilians and essential infrastructure must stop,” Mr. Dujarric told journalists at the noon briefing on Monday. 

“We reiterate that all parties must ensure rapid, safe, unhindered and unimpeded humanitarian access, including all key routes and anywhere aid is needed.”