Palestinian bodies returned by Israel show signs of torture and execution, say doctors in Gaza

Under the first phase of the ceasefire brokered by US President Donald Trump, Hamas returned 20 living hostages and at least four deceased hostages. In return, Israel released nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, including the bodies of 45 prisoners. The exchange was facilitated through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Doctors at Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, who received the bodies from the ICRC, said there was clear evidence of beatings and summary executions, and that none of the bodies were identifiable.

“Almost all of them had been blindfolded, and had been bound up and they had gunshots between the eyes. Almost all of them had been executed,” said Dr Ahmed al-Farra, the head of Nasser hospital’s paediatric department told The Guardian.

“There were also scars and discoloured patches of skin showing they had been beaten before being killed. There were also signs that their bodies had been abused after they were killed.”

Farra said that since all hospitals in Gaza have been bombed, there are no facilities for DNA analysis to identify the unmarked and unidentified bodies. Doctors in Gaza have been appealing to relatives to help with identification.

“They know the identity of these bodies, but they want the families to suffer even more,” the doctor told The Guardian.

According to the The Guardian, the International Criminal Court is investigating war crimes committed by both sides during the two-year Gaza war, including the killing of 15 Palestinian paramedics and rescue workers whose bodies were found in a shallow grave in March.

The return of bodies by both sides marks the first phase of the US-brokered Gaza peace plan. Israel has said it will slow the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza in response to delays in the transfer of 28 bodies of Israeli hostages believed to have been killed during the war, adding that one of the bodies handed over was not that of a hostage.

On Wednesday, Hamas said it had handed back the bodies of two more hostages, bringing the total number returned to six.

The militant group had earlier returned the remains of seven of the 28 known deceased hostages, along with an eighth body that Israel said was not one of the former hostages.

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