Trending 
The Gaza Health Ministry announced on Saturday that it has received the remains of 15 additional Palestinians returned by Israel through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), bringing the total number of bodies handed over since the start of the ceasefire to 135, Anadolu reports.
The ministry said medical teams are processing the remains in line with established forensic and medical procedures, which include examination, documentation, and identification, before the bodies are returned to their families.
“Some of the bodies show signs of abuse, beatings, bound hands, and blindfolded eyes,” the ministry stated.
So far, families have identified seven of the victims through an online reference platform created to match recovered remains with missing persons.
On Friday, Ahmad Dhahir, director of forensic medicine at Nasser Hospital, told Anadolu that due to limited forensic tools, the ministry had launched an online portal displaying censored images of the bodies to help families identify their relatives remotely.
Also speaking to Anadolu, Ismail al-Thawabta, director of the Government Media Office in Gaza, confirmed that the ministry had earlier received through the ICRC the remains of 120 unidentified Palestinians in three separate groups.
He noted that many of the bodies showed evidence of torture, burns, and field executions, while Israel had provided neither names nor data, making the identification process extremely difficult.
Authorities in Gaza estimate that around 9,500 people remain missing — some believed to be buried under the rubble, while the fate of others is still uncertain.
Under the ongoing ceasefire agreement, Hamas released 20 Israeli hostages and handed over the remains of 11 others in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
The deal, reached last week and based on a plan proposed by US President Donald Trump, also includes provisions for Gaza’s reconstruction and the creation of a new administrative system excluding Hamas.
Since October 2023, Israeli assaults on Gaza have killed nearly 68,000 Palestinians — most of them women and children — and left the territory largely uninhabitable.
