Israel Returns 89 Bodies Of Palestinians, Will Be Identified Before Buried In Khan Younis

JAKARTA - Israel returned more than 80 bodies of Palestinians killed in its military offensive in the Gaza Strip.

Yamen Abu Suleiman, director of the Palestinian Civil Emergency Service in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, said it was unclear whether the bodies were excavated from the graves by soldiers during the ground attacks, or whether they were prisoners who had been tortured and killed.

"The population did not provide us with information about names, ages, or anything. This is a war crime, a crime against humanity," Abu Suleiman said.

He said the bodies would be examined in an effort to determine the cause of death and identify them, before being buried in a mass grave in a cemetery near Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.

Gaza's Hamas-run state media office said Israel delivered 89 bodies in the form of bones and rotting bodies in inhumane ways.

There has been no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the return of the body. In the past, Israel said it returned the bodies after being examined they were not Israeli hostages detained by Hamas since the October 7 attack on Israel.

In Jerusalem, Israel's Hostage Family Forum questioned the reason Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu allowed the handover of the bodies of Palestinians without a ceasefire agreement with Hamas.

"Why are bodies returned outside the framework of a comprehensive agreement? Such agreements can bring back the surviving hostages for rehabilitation and bodies for burial properly," they said in a statement.