Israel returned the bodies of more than 80 Palestinians killed in its military offensive in the Gaza Strip, while Israeli air strikes killed at least 18 more people on Monday (5), the Palestinian Health Ministry said.
Yamen Abu Suleiman, director of the Palestinian Civil Emergency Service in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, said it was unclear whether the bodies were dug up from cemeteries by the army during the ground offensive, or whether they were “detainees who were tortured and killed.”
“The occupation has not provided us with any information about names, or ages, or anything. This is a war crime, a crime against humanity,” Abu Suleiman said.
The bodies will be examined to determine the cause of death and identify them. They will later be buried in a mass grave in a cemetery near Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.
The 84 bodies arrived in more than 15 bags, each containing several bodies, Abu Suleiman added.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the return of the bodies. In the past, Israel has said it returned the bodies after verification that they were not Israeli hostages held by Hamas since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
In Jerusalem, the Israeli Hostage Families Forum asked why Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would allow the handover of Palestinian bodies without a ceasefire agreement with Hamas.
“Why are the bodies being returned outside the scope of a comprehensive agreement? Such an agreement could bring back accommodation for rehabilitation and the deceased for a proper burial,” they said in a statement.
In southeast Khan Younis, residents said Israeli air and tank shelling continued overnight, including in areas where Israel had issued evacuation orders, saying militants were carrying out attacks from there.
An Israeli airstrike killed eight Palestinians in a vehicle on a road near Khan Younis on Monday, medics said.
The Israeli military said on Monday it had killed Abdel-Fattah Al-Zriei, who was believed to be involved in Hamas’s weapons manufacturing department. The attack took place on Sunday, it said.
Palestinian health officials said Zriei, who was deputy economy minister in the Gaza Strip, was “murdered” in an Israeli raid on his home in Deir Al-Balah, central Gaza, which also killed his mother.
According to Israeli estimates, 1,200 people were killed in the Hamas attack on southern Israel and 250 were taken hostage.
At least 39,550 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli military campaign in Gaza, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which makes no distinction between fighters and civilians.
Palestinian health officials say most of the deaths were civilians. Israel, which has lost about 330 soldiers in Gaza, says about a third of the Palestinians killed were fighters.
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Source: CNN Brasil

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