Israel returned the bodies of more than 80 Palestinians killed in its military offensive in the Gaza Strip, as Israeli airstrikes killed at least 18 more people yesterday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said.
Yamen Abu Suleiman, the director of the Palestinian Civil Emergency Service in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, said it was unclear whether the bodies had been dug up from cemeteries by the army during the ground offensive, or whether they were “detainees who had been tortured and killed.”
The occupation provided us with no information about the names, or ages, or anything. This is a war crime, a crime against humanity,” Abu Suleiman said.
The bodies will be screened and examined in an attempt to determine the causes of death and in an attempt to identify them. They will later be buried in a mass grave at a cemetery near Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.
The 84 bodies arrived in more than 15 bags, each containing several bodies, Abu Suleiman added. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the return of the bodies. In the past, Israel has said it returned bodies after checks they were not Israeli hostages.
In Jerusalem, the Israeli Hostages Families Forum asked why Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would allow the handover of Palestinian bodies without a ceasefire deal with Hamas.
“Why are bodies being returned outside the framework of a comprehensive deal? Such an agreement could bring back living hostages for rehabilitation and the deceased for proper burial,” they said in a statement.
In southeast Khan Younis, residents said Israeli aerial and tank shelling continued overnight, including in areas for which Israel had issued evacuation orders, saying Hamas members had been waging attacks from there.
An Israeli air strike killed eight Palestinians in a vehicle on the road near Khan Younis yesterday. The Israeli military said it had killed Abdel-Fattah Al-Zriei, whom it said was involved in the weapons manufacturing department in Hamas.
In Jerusalem, the Israeli Hostages and Missing Families Forum asked why Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would allow the handover of Palestinian bodies without a ceasefire deal with Hamas.
“Why are bodies being returned outside the framework of a comprehensive deal? Such an agreement could bring back living hostages for rehabilitation and the deceased for proper burial,” the group said in a statement.
Rocketing regional tensions are increasing the desperation of families and friends of the remaining 111 captives, including 39 known to be dead, taken during the October 7 attack.
Critics say Netanyahu, who is facing a corruption trial, prefers to prolong the conflict rather than agree a deal that could upset his hardline coalition partners and tip him out of office.
