GAZA CITY, Palestine: Israel returned the bodies of 30 more Palestinians to Gaza on Wednesday, bringing the total number handed over under the US-brokered ceasefire deal to 195, according to the Health Ministry in the besieged Palestinian enclave.
The return of bodies is part of a ceasefire agreement mediated by US President Donald Trump, under which Israel is to return the bodies of 15 Palestinians for every deceased Israeli hostage handed over by Hamas.
Israel’s military said that the remains of two more hostages returned on Tuesday from Gaza had been identified as 85-year-old Aryeh Zalmanovich and Master Sergeant Tamir Adar, 38.
Both were killed during Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attacks and their bodies were later taken into Gaza.
Since the truce came into effect on October 10, Hamas has returned 15 of the 28 Israeli bodies pledged under the deal.
Families await identification of loved ones
The Gaza Health Ministry said that of the 195 Palestinian bodies received so far, 57 have been identified by relatives. The remaining unidentified bodies have been buried in central Gaza.
Gaza’s civil defence agency said the latest funeral procession began at Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis and continued to a cemetery in Deir el-Balah.
Umm Hassan Hammad, whose son has been missing since October 7, said she visits the hospital daily hoping to identify him.
“Every day I come here, maybe I recognise him from his clothes or the trousers he went out in since October 7,” she said.
Health ministry reports signs of torture
In a statement, the Gaza Health Ministry said some of the returned bodies bore signs of “torture, beating, handcuffing and blindfolding.”
Medical teams are conducting examinations to document the condition of the remains before handing them over to families, the ministry added.
Israeli attacks despite ceasefire
Despite the ceasefire, Israeli forces have continued military operations inside Gaza. Medical sources at Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City told Al Jazeera that one Palestinian was killed by Israeli troops in the Tuffah neighbourhood on Wednesday.
Local officials said dozens of Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire took effect on October 10, in what they describe as repeated violations of the agreement.
Meanwhile, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) warned that humanitarian aid entering Gaza remains far below the level required to meet urgent needs.
“Aid entering the Gaza Strip is a drop in the ocean of what’s urgently needed,” UNRWA said on X (formerly Twitter), calling for all border crossings to be opened and restrictions lifted.
“UNRWA has around 6,000 trucks worth of vital humanitarian supplies in Jordan and Egypt waiting to go in,” the agency said.
