Israel releases remains of 15 more Palestinians under Gaza ceasefire deal

GAZA CITY, Palestine/ISTANBUL

Israel returned the remains of 15 more Palestinians on Wednesday under a Gaza ceasefire agreement with Hamas, medics said.

Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis said in a statement that the bodies were transferred to the facility by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), without giving further details.

The new handover brought the number of Palestinian bodies returned by Israel since the ceasefire took effect on Oct. 10 to 285.

The Gaza Health Ministry had previously said that many of the bodies handed over by Israel showed signs of abuse, including beatings, bound hands, blindfolds, and facial disfigurement, and were returned without names.

Families have been trying to identify the remains of their relatives by physical markings or clothing, as forensic facilities in Gaza remain out of service due to the Israeli blockade and the destruction of laboratories.

Before the ceasefire, Israel held 735 Palestinian bodies in so-called “cemeteries of numbers,” according to the Palestinian National Campaign to Retrieve Martyrs’ Bodies.

According to the Israeli daily Haaretz, the Israeli army has been holding about 1,500 bodies of Palestinians from Gaza at the notorious Sde Teiman military base in southern Israel.

Phase one of the ceasefire deal includes the exchange of prisoners and bodies between Israel and Hamas. The plan also envisages the rebuilding of Gaza and the establishment of a new governing mechanism without Hamas.

Since October 2023, the Israeli genocidal war has killed nearly 69,000 people and injured more than 170,600, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.