Details Unclear, Palestinian Authority Rejects 88 Bodies Sent By Israel

Illustration of hospital ambulances in Gaza. (Wikimedia Commons/Basel Yazouri)

JAKARTA - Gaza's Ministry of Health, Palestine refused to accept and bury the bodies of 88 Palestinians returned by Israel, before Israel revealed details of their identities to where they died.

The bodies were brought to Gaza in a container loaded in a truck via Israeli-controlled crossings, but, according to Palestinian officials, no information was provided about the names or ages of the victims or the locations where they died.

Health officials at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis refused to accept and bury them, urging the International Committee of the ICRC Red Cross to request details from Israel.

"The health ministry has stopped procedures to receive containers (which carry bodies) until complete data and complete information about the bodies so that their relatives can identify them," the ministry said in a statement.

The head of the state media office of Gaza managed by Hamas said health ministry officials told truck drivers to carry the bodies of Palestinians who died back to the Israeli crossing where they arrived. The truck then left the hospital.

"They must act in accordance with international humanitarian law and in a way that maintains the dignity of the martyrs and their families," Ismail Al-Thawabta told Reuters.

Meanwhile, the Red Cross said it was not involved in the transfer process.

"We emphasize that all families have the right to receive information about their loved ones, bury them with respect and in accordance with their customs," read a statement issued by the ICRC.

Based on International Humanitarian Law, those who die during armed conflict must be handled with dignity and managed properly.

The law requires them to be searched for, collected and evacuated, which helps ensure no one is missing, the ICRC statement added.

Separately, medical sources on Wednesday confirmed the death toll of Palestinians since the latest conflict in Gaza broke out on October 7, 2023, had reached 41,495, while 96,006 others were injured, with the majority of victims being children and women, according to Palestinian news agency WAFA.