ISRAEL has handed over the bodies of 15 Palestinians to the International Committee of the Red Cross in exchange for the final Israeli captive, whose remains were recovered by Israeli forces earlier this week, closing the chapter on this part of its more than two-year genocidal war on Gaza.
Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Gaza, said Palestinian authorities are still trying to determine whether the bodies of the Palestinians will be released at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis or at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City later on Thursday.
On Wednesday, Israel laid to rest policeman Ran Gvili, who was killed during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attacks on southern Israel.
Of the 251 captives taken by Hamas and other Palestinian groups that day, Gvili’s were the last remains held in the Palestinian territory.
At his funeral on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described Gvili as a “hero of Israel” and warned Israel’s enemies that they would pay a heavy price if they attacked again.
The return of all the captives from Gaza dragged on over the course of Israel’s war in a series of ceasefire and prisoner-swap deals as well as some mostly failed attempts to rescue them militarily.
The most recent set of captives-for-prisoners handovers was part of the ceasefire that took effect on October 10.
While all the captives held in Gaza have been returned to Israel, thousands of Palestinians continue to languish in Israeli prisons, many without charges or trials.
A July 2024 report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights found that Israel was holding about 9,400 Palestinians as “security detainees”, often without giving them a reason for their detentions, in facilities where abuses such as torture and sexual assault were rife.
In November, the rights group Physicians for Human Rights-Israel released a report stating that of the Palestinian prisoners held in Israel, at least 94 have died during detention from causes such as torture, medical neglect, malnutrition and assault. The report said the true number is likely much higher.
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Dozens of bodies of Palestinian prisoners that have been returned in previous exchanges have shown signs of torture, mutilation and execution.
Meanwhile, Israeli news outlet Haaretz reported on Thursday that the Israeli army “has adopted for the first time the Gaza Health Ministry’s count of nearly 70,000 Palestinians killed during the war”.
Israel has disputed the ministry’s death toll repeatedly. More than 71,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel since the war began.
Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that Israeli forces targeted a group of citizens near Makki roundabout in the Maghazi camp in central Gaza on Thursday, killing two people and wounding dozens.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said Israeli air strikes, tank shelling and gunfire have killed at least 490 people since the start of the ceasefire in October.