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Thirty bodies of Palestinians handed over by Israel through the Red Cross arrived at Nasser Hospital on Friday, displaying evidence of torture, restraint and crush injuries consistent with military vehicles, according to a Hamas-affiliated organization monitoring prisoner conditions.
The delivery brings to 225 the total number of bodies returned to Gaza since Oct. 14, the Prisoners' Information Office said. The transfers are part of the first phase of a ceasefire agreement that took effect Oct. 10.
"Traces of torture, handcuffing, burns, and crushing by military vehicles were found on their bodies," the office said in a statement Friday.
The bodies arrive without identification documents, forcing families to identify relatives through remaining physical features or clothing. Forensic testing capabilities have been eliminated by the Israeli blockade and destruction of laboratories across Gaza, the office said.
"Keeping the bodies in refrigerators and burying them in the so-called 'cemeteries of numbers' reflects a deliberate policy to humiliate Palestinians, both alive and dead, and constitutes a blatant violation of international humanitarian law," the statement added.
Before the ceasefire, Israel held 735 Palestinian bodies in what the office called "cemeteries of numbers," according to the Palestinian National Campaign to Retrieve Martyrs' Bodies and Discover the Fate of the Missing.
The campaign cited a July 16, 2024, report in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz stating that approximately 1,500 bodies of Palestinians from Gaza were being held at the Sde Teiman military base in southern Israel.
The Prisoners' Information Office separately condemned Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir for publishing a video Friday showing Palestinian prisoners handcuffed and lying on the ground, calling it "an open incitement that exposes the criminal mindset governing the occupation's prisons."
In the Telegram video, Ben-Gvir appeared standing before a row of Palestinian detainees lying face down with their hands tied behind their backs, saying: "This is how we treat them, and all that's left is to execute them."
Ben-Gvir has frequently appeared in videos involving Palestinian prisoners, including Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti, the office said.
The office said these actions constitute "conclusive evidence of a systematic policy of killing targeting Palestinian prisoners" and called for the formation of an independent international investigation committee to hold Israeli leaders accountable.
The Gaza Health Ministry said 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 truce. The next phases include handover of Gaza to a nonpolitical committee and rebuilding of the enclave destroyed in the two-year-long Israeli onslaught.
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