THIRTY more bodies of Palestinians who were detained by Israel have been returned to the besieged Gaza Strip, some showing signs of torture.
The return of the Palestinian remains, via the International Committee of the Red Cross, came as Israeli forces continued air strikes across the Strip despite a shaky ceasefire, killing at least three people on Friday.
One Palestinian was killed and his brother wounded by Israeli gunfire in the Shujayea neighbourhood of eastern Gaza City, while another was killed by Israeli shelling in the Jabalia refugee camp, Wafa news agency reported. A third Palestinian died of wounds sustained from previous Israeli shelling, it added.
Separately, civil defence workers in central Gaza said they had recovered the body of a Palestinian from the rubble of the Abu Medein family home in the az-Zahra neighbourhood.
Israeli warplanes also struck buildings in Khan Younis in southern Gaza on Friday.
The return of slain Palestinian detainees comes as part of the prisoner-captive exchange deal agreed in early October. The latest handover brings the total number of bodies received to 225, the Palestinian Health Ministry said in a statement.
It said medical teams are identifying the bodies under standard protocols before documenting them and notifying families.
In the previous handovers, bodies of prisoners had exhibited signs of torture, including being blindfolded and handcuffed, medical sources said. Many had appeared decomposed or burned, while others were missing limbs or teeth.
Israel holds thousands of Palestinians in prison, many in administrative detention without filing official charges against them. Reports that Israel tortures Palestinian detainees in its jails have been common for years, and have increased since the start of its war on Gaza.
Under the United States-brokered accord to halt Israel’s two-year war on Gaza, Hamas released 20 living captives in exchange for Israel releasing nearly 2,000 Palestinian political prisoners. Israeli forces have also completed a partial withdrawal from urban centres in Gaza.
But since the ceasefire took effect on October 10, Israeli attacks have killed dozens of Palestinians across the enclave. From Tuesday into Wednesday, the Health Ministry in Gaza said Israeli attacks killed 104 people, including 46 children and 20 women.
The Red Cross said it transferred the unidentified remains of three people to Israel late on Friday, but it was unclear if they were deceased captives.
An Israeli military source told news agency AFP the bodies had been transferred to a “forensic research laboratory” to confirm their identities.
The previous day, Hamas handed over two bodies of dead Israeli captives. So far, the group has returned the remains of 17 captives, not including Friday’s three bodies.
As part of the deal, the Palestinian group committed to returning the remains of all 28 captives in exchange for the bodies of Palestinians killed in the war.
The group is continuing to press for proper equipment and support to comb through vast mounds of rubble and debris – where thousands of Palestinians killed in Israeli bombardments are still buried.