In pictures: Israel hands Gaza bodies of 80 Palestinians, some 'in pieces'
Gaza lays to rest 80 Palestinians in a mass grave at Tel al Sultan Cemetery in Rafah after Israel returns the unidentified bodies — some intact, others in pieces, according to a hospital official.
Palestinians hold mass burial at Tel al Sultan Cemetery in Rafah, Gaza on December 26, 2023, for 80 Palestinians whose bodies were dispatched by Israel to Gaza. / Photo: AA
The bodies of about 80 Palestinians killed by the Israeli army during its ground invasion, have been returned to Gaza and buried in a mass grave at Tel al Sultan Cemetery, according to Anadolu Agency.
The Ministry of Health in Gaza received the bodies on Tuesday through the Israeli-controlled Karem Abu Salem fence crossing in southern Gaza, an Anadolu correspondent reported.
Health workers in plastic robes removed the bodies, which were covered in blue plastic sealed with zip ties, from the truck. The bodies were then brought by a bulldozer for burial in a mass grave.
''The UN had informed us in advance of the arrival of a number of martyrs to the Gaza Strip, estimated to be around 80 bodies,'' Marwan al Hams, the director of Mohammed Yousef El-Najar Hospital in Rafah city, told Anadolu.
"The bodies arrived inside a container, some intact, while others were in pieces, and some others had decomposed,'' he added. Al Hams noted that the bodies were "transferred to the cemetery for burying" and the health and justice ministries would investigate the bodies for possible "war crimes."
The burial images are poignant.
Some of the dead bodies were decomposed and buried in the mass grave since it was feared that the corpses would spread disease.
Israeli forces seized the Palestinians during the ground invasion and have now handed their bodies to Gaza authorities.
"The bodies arrived inside a container, some intact, while others were in pieces, and some others had decomposed,'' a hospital official said.
The bodies in blue bags are being unloaded from a truck to be buried at Tel al Sultan Cemetery in Rafah, Gaza on December 26, 2023.
The bodies are unidentified and have been buried at Tel al Sultan Cemetery in Rafah.
The Palestinian death toll in the war has reached 20,915, the Palestinian Health Ministry says, with thousands more bodies believed trapped under rubble.
Israel sent the bodies to Gaza through the Karem Abu Salem fence crossing.
Almost all of Gaza's 2.3 million people have been displaced in one of the world's most densely populated areas, and Israel has wiped out 1 percent of Gaza's pre-war population.
Israel’s war on Gaza is one of the most devastating military invasions in recent history.
Copyright © 2025 TRT World.