Israel returns bodies of 15 more Palestinians under Gaza ceasefire deal

Gaza City (Web Desk): Israel on Wednesday repatriated the bodies of another 15 Palestinians to Gaza as part of its ongoing truce agreement with Hamas, medical sources reported.

According to a statement issued by Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, the remains were brought to the facility by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The hospital, however, provided no further information about the identities of the deceased or the circumstances surrounding their deaths.

This latest transfer has raised the total number of Palestinian bodies returned by Israel since the ceasefire began on October 10 to 285.

The Gaza Health Ministry earlier said that many of the bodies handed over by Israel bore evidence of mistreatment, including bruising, bound hands, blindfolds, and severe facial injuries.

The ministry added that most were returned without identification tags, forcing grieving families to attempt recognition through physical characteristics or fragments of clothing. Forensic operations in Gaza have largely halted due to the ongoing blockade and the devastation of laboratories and medical infrastructure.

Before the truce, Israel was reported to be holding 735 Palestinian bodies in what it terms “cemeteries of numbers,” according to the Palestinian National Campaign to Retrieve Martyrs’ Bodies.

Meanwhile, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz disclosed that the Israeli army is detaining around 1,500 bodies from Gaza at the Sde Teiman military base in southern Israel.

The first stage of the ceasefire arrangement includes the exchange of prisoners and bodies between Israel and Hamas, alongside provisions for Gaza’s reconstruction and the establishment of a new administrative framework excluding Hamas.

Since the outbreak of Israel’s offensive in October 2023, nearly 69,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 170,600 wounded, according to data from the Gaza Health Ministry.