Gaza’s Health Ministry receives remains of 45 more Palestinians from Israel under ceasefire deal

Gaza's Health Ministry said Monday that it had received the remains of 45 Palestinians released by Israel via the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), raising the total number of bodies handed over to 270 under a ceasefire agreement.

The forensic teams have so far identified 78 bodies and are continuing examinations "in accordance with approved medical procedures and protocols" before the remains are documented and released to families, the ministry said in a statement.

The 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.

The handover is part of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement that took effect on Oct. 10. The deal includes the exchange of prisoners and bodies between Israel and Hamas, brokered by Türkiye, Egypt, and Qatar, with US oversight.

Families have been identifying the remains of their relatives, returned from Israel without names, by physical markings or clothing, as forensic facilities in Gaza remain out of service due to a years-long 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 army has been holding about 1,500 bodies of Palestinians from Gaza at the notorious Sde Teiman military base in southern Israel.

Israel has killed more than 68,800 people, mostly women and children, and injured over 170,600 others in attacks in Gaza since October 2023.