PALESTINE – On Friday, Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis said that it received 30 bodies of Palestinians released by Israel under the Gaza ceasefire deal, bringing the total number of returned bodies to 225 since October 14.

A hospital statement said the facility “received 30 bodies of Palestinian martyrs released today by the Israeli occupation through the International Committee of the Red Cross,” without providing further details.

The Gaza Health 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 a ceasefire agreement that took effect Oct. 10. The deal includes the exchange of prisoners and bodies between Israel and Hamas, brokered by Egypt, Qatar, and Türkiye, 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 the Israeli blockade and the destruction of laboratories.

The hospital did not say whether the newly received bodies carried names or showed signs of torture. However, details are expected to be announced in the coming hours.

Before the ceasefire, Israel held 735 Palestinian bodies in so-called “cemeteries of numbers,” according to the Palestinian National Campaign to Retrieve Martyrs’ Bodies and Discover the Fate of the Missing.

Besides, the campaign cited a Haaretz report published on July 16, 2024, revealing that the Israeli army has been holding about 1,500 bodies of Palestinians from Gaza at the notorious Sde Teiman military base in southern Israel.