Inside the Gaza bodies handover: evidence of torture, execution, and desecration

The Director General of Gaza’s Ministry of Health, Munir al-Barsh, said that the bodies of the 30 martyrs received by the ministry on Friday were “the most difficult and most damaged” of all those recently handed over by the Israeli occupation. In Gaza, bodies are a common sight — but this was different.

In a press statement on Saturday, al-Barsh explained that Israeli forces delivered most of the bodies in a state of near-complete decomposition, while others were nothing but bones. Many had lost their facial features entirely — the result, he said, of torture and long burial under the sand.

He added that the occupation “tortured and executed the owners of these bodies, then buried them and later exhumed them for handover,” which caused the melting and severe disfigurement of their tissues.

Al-Barsh noted that some bodies still wore torn clothes and shoes — details that may help families identify their loved ones, despite the near impossibility of the task. Many bore visible signs of gunfire, brutal abuse, and even being run over by tanks.

He confirmed that the Ministry of Health would follow its usual procedures in such cases, allowing the families of the martyrs to view and attempt to identify the bodies before burial.

The health official revealed that of the 255 bodies received since the ceasefire agreement took effect, families have been able to identify only 75 martyrs. Authorities have already buried the remaining 120 unidentified victims

On Friday, the Israeli occupation army handed over the bodies of 30 martyrs as part of the fifth batch of the exchange deal with the Palestinian resistance — still without providing any official list of names.

Featured image via Wikimedia Commons