Health Ministry: Gaza Receives 15 More Martyrs’ Bodies

By Staff, Agencies

The Palestinian Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip has said it received the bodies of 15 more martyrs held by the "Israeli" occupation entity.

Gaza's Health Ministry said with the return of 15 more Palestinian bodies on Sunday, the total number handed over reached 150.

"We have received 15 bodies of martyrs released today by the 'Israeli' occupation through the Red Cross. The total number of martyrs’ bodies received has now risen to 150," it said.

"Some of the bodies show signs of mutilation, beating, bound hands, and blindfolds," the ministry added.

In exchange, the Palestinian Hamas Resistance movement handed over the bodies of two captives on Saturday night as part of the US-brokered ceasefire deal.

The "Israeli" so-called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed the Red Cross had received the bodies.

However, Hamas warned that the closure of the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza would cause significant delays in the handover of the remaining captives' bodies.

Hamas said in a statement that the continued closure of Rafah “blocks the entry of specialized equipment needed to search for those missing under the rubble and prevents forensic teams and tools required to identify bodies,” leading to “significant delays in the retrieval and transfer of remains.”

Meanwhile, the military wing of Hamas said it had found the body of one of the "Israeli" captives during ongoing search operations, and will hand it over on Sunday if the field conditions are suitable.

Director-General of the Health Ministry, Munir al-Bursh, said in a post on X that some of the bodies were “tied up like animals, blindfolded, and bearing horrific signs of torture and burns that reveal the extent of the crimes committed in secret.”

He said the visible marks of torture and burns on the bodies of the Palestinian detainees are “crimes that cannot be concealed.”

According to an earlier report published by the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society, some of the Palestinian bodies returned by the "Israeli" occupation still had hand restraints and blindfolds on them.

The Gaza Media Office called for the urgent formation of an independent international investigation committee to document and prosecute “grave violations of the Geneva Conventions and international humanitarian law.”

At least 75 Palestinian detainees have martyred in "Israeli" custody since October 2023, according to the United Nations.