Gaza authorities buried the bodies of Palestinian prisoners returned by Israel, many showing signs of torture and execution, as officials urged international investigations into the violations.
The Government Information Office in Gaza announced on Wednesday that the bodies of ten Palestinian prisoners held by Israeli occupation forces were buried in a mass grave in Deir al-Balah. Authorities confirmed that many of the prisoners had been subjected to torture and severe abuse.
During a press conference, Ismail al-Thawabta, director-general of the Government Media Office in Gaza, stated that the bodies of 54 Palestinian detainees, held and later killed by Israeli forces, were buried after Israel refused to provide official lists of the victims’ names.
Al-Thawabta said that the returned bodies bore visible signs of torture. Forensic examinations confirmed that several of the victims had been executed by hanging or shot at close range, pointing to deliberate field executions.
⚡️🇵🇸JUST IN: Israel is stealing organs from Palestinian hostages.
“When we examined the bodies, we found that large parts were missing, there were half bodies, bodies without heads, without limbs, without eyes, and without internal organs.”
Dr. Ismail Al-Thawabta, head of… pic.twitter.com/hOtOq81qx1
— Suppressed News. (@SuppressedNws1) October 17, 2025
He explained that the bodies were discovered within five days, carefully documented, photographed, and buried in numbered graves. Many could not be identified due to the mutilation and obliteration of their features caused by torture.
Al-Thawabta renewed his call for international organizations to dispatch investigation teams to Gaza to examine the bodies, investigate the violations, and hold those responsible for these crimes accountable.
According to Al-Jazeera’s correspondent in Deir al-Balah, Ashraf Abu Amra, the bodies had been transferred from the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis, where residents used stones from destroyed homes to construct the graves.
On the same day, Israeli forces handed over the seventh batch of Palestinian prisoners’ bodies, including 30 individuals, through the Kissufim crossing.
The funeral of 54 martyrs was held at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, with the participation of the Civil Defense and some Ministry of Health workers, where the bodies were buried in a mass grave in the city of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza. pic.twitter.com/BI3JnTpfbh
— Eye on Palestine (@EyeonPalestine) October 22, 2025
The Nasser Medical Complex reported that since the Gaza ceasefire agreement took effect on October 10, a total of 195 bodies have been transferred from Israel via the Red Cross.
Palestinian authorities said that the bodies often arrive unidentified, and the process of identification is carried out using rudimentary methods. Families of the missing are called to examine clothing, physical features, or visible injuries to recognize their loved ones.
The Ministry of Health has also launched an electronic database with select images of the deceased — shared in a way that respects their dignity — to help families identify the missing remotely.
Ahmed Dahir, head of the Martyrs’ Bodies Department at the Ministry of Health, said the Forensic Medicine Department lacks the equipment and laboratories needed for DNA testing. He added that the department has only 16 staff members working under extremely limited conditions and without proper resources.
(PC, AJA)
” death, death to the IDF ” …
level Israel.
The Israeli Jewish Nazis are a plague upon this Earth. It will be a better, safer place when they’re all dead.
The Israeli citizens are to blame for not stopping them. In fact, they’ve encouraged it. There are very few innocents in Wasrael.