The bodies of 54 deceased, unidentified Palestinians that were returned by Israel were buried in a mass grave in central Gaza on Wednesday as Israel returned more remains to the Strip under the ceasefire agreement.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Wednesday that it received 30 more bodies, bringing the total number of bodies sent into Gaza since the ceasefire went into effect on October 10 to 195. Israel has been returning approximately 15 bodies for each deceased Israeli captive sent to Israel.
Out of the 195 bodies Gaza has received, 57 have been identified by their families. A number of the bodies were returned from Sde Teiman, an Israeli prison notorious for torture, and the Health Ministry has said some of them have shown “signs of torture, beatings, handcuffing and blindfolding.”
The bodies could include Palestinians who died in Israeli detention, were killed in Gaza and brought into Israel, or some who died during the October 7 attack on southern Israel. Hamas released the bodies of two Israelis on Tuesday, and they were confirmed on Wednesday to be one Israeli soldier who died in Israel on October 7 and a civilian, an elderly man who the Israeli military said died in captivity in Gaza.
A total of 13 Israeli bodies remain in Gaza. Israel initially tried to claim Hamas violated the ceasefire deal by not handing them all over right away, but Israeli officials were aware it would take time to find them under the rubble, and that some may never be found. US officials have denied that Hamas violated the ceasefire deal by not being able to access all of the Israeli remains right away.
It’s estimated that about 10,000 Palestinians are missing in Gaza and presumed dead under the rubble. Al Jazeera reported on Wednesday that Palestinians in Gaza City were using their bare hands or hand tools to attempt to dig bodies out of the rubble due to the lack of construction equipment.
Gaza’s Health Ministry also said on Wednesday that since the ceasefire went into effect, 436 bodies have been recovered from the rubble. At least 88 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces during the same time despite the truce, including one who was killed over the past day.
