Israel sent a truck full of 88 dead Palestinians into the Gaza Strip on Wednesday and provided no information about their identities or how they were killed.
Gaza’s Health Ministry is demanding answers from Israel and refused to bury the bodies before they were identified.
The Health Ministry said in a statement that it had suspended the procedure for taking the bodies until “all data and information about these bodies are completed to identify their owners and their names, considering this to be the minimum rights of these people and their families.”
The ministry called on international aid organizations, including the Red Cross, to help get information from Israel. “We also emphasize the necessity of receiving the bodies according to humanitarian and international standards and in a manner that preserves the rights and dignity of the owners of these bodies,” the ministry said.
Middle East Eye reported that the truck driver, who entered Gaza from the Kerem Shalom crossing, was not allowed to enter the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis and was told to go back to Israel.
Israel has sent hundreds of decomposed and unidentifiable bodies into Gaza over the past year. Gaza health officials said the truck sent in on Wednesday was the fifth one. On August 2, a truck carrying 90 bodies entered the Strip, and the Health Ministry said they were returned as “bones and decomposed bodies in an inhumane manner.”
Also on Wednesday, the Health Ministry said the number of Palestinians killed by Israel’s assault since October 7 has reached 41,495. The toll is considered an undercount since it doesn’t include the 10,000 Palestinians who have been reported missing and are presumed to be dead under the rubble. It’s also unclear how many indirect deaths have been caused by the Israeli siege.
