GAZA CITY, Palestine: Israel returned the bodies of 45 Palestinians on Wednesday to Gaza authorities, the Palestinian territory’s health ministry said, bringing the total number handed over as part of a US-brokered ceasefire deal to 90.
In the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, morgue workers unloaded refrigerated trucks, parked alongside Red Cross vehicles, AFP reported.
Under the deal pushed by US President Donald Trump and aimed at ending the two-year Israeli bombardment campaign in Gaza, Israel was to turn over the bodies of 15 Palestinians for every deceased Israeli returned.
On Monday, Hamas gave up three Israeli bodies and one Nepalese for transfer.
This was followed on Tuesday by three more deceased Israelis and one as yet unidentified body that the military says was not that of someone listed among the dead hostages.
The swap has also seen the last 20 surviving hostages return home from Gaza in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners freed from Israeli jails, as well as a halt in the bombardment.
The remains of 20 other hostages are still in Gaza, and there is domestic pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to tie aid to the fate of the bodies.
Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has threatened to cut off supplies to Gaza if Hamas fails to return the remains of soldiers still held in the Palestinian territory.
On Wednesday, a lifeline border crossing between Gaza and Egypt remained shut despite reports that it could reopen to aid convoys, as Israel insisted Hamas hand over the remains of the last deceased hostages.
Gaza death toll rises to 67,938
Meanwhile, the death toll in Gaza has risen to at least 67,938 since Israel began its military campaign in October 2023, the Palestinian enclave’s health ministry said on Wednesday.
The ministry said that 25 bodies, including 16 newly recovered and one person who succumbed to wounds, were brought to Gaza’s hospitals in the past 24 hours, along with 35 injured people.
The ministry added that “a number of victims remain under the rubble” as ambulance and civil defence teams are still unable to reach several areas due to ongoing access constraints.
Meanwhile, medical sources cited by Al Jazeera said that some of the Palestinian bodies handed over by Israeli forces were blindfolded and handcuffed, showing signs of possible field executions.
The same sources said tank tracks were visible on some corpses, suggesting that they may have been run over by Israeli military vehicles.
