GAZA, (The Palestine Foundation Pakistan)The Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of deliberately obstructing the handover of Israeli captives’ bodies and blocking humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, calling it part of his government’s “fascist policy of collective punishment and political manipulation of humanitarian files.”
Hamas said in a statement on Thursday that Netanyahu’s threats to delay the reopening of the Rafah crossing and restrict aid deliveries “expose his government’s vindictive agenda toward Gaza’s civilians.”
The Movement explained that returning the bodies of Israeli captives would “take some time,” as several were buried in tunnels destroyed by Israeli airstrikes and others remain under the rubble of demolished buildings. Hamas held Israel responsible for the destruction that has hindered recovery efforts.
Hamas noted that the bodies it was able to retrieve were immediately transferred, while the rest require specialized equipment that Israel has blocked from entering the enclave. Hamas stressed its commitment to the ceasefire agreement and its intention to hand over all remaining bodies, blaming Netanyahu’s government for obstructing humanitarian and technical facilitation.
US president Donald Trump announced on October 9 that Israel and Hamas had agreed to the first phase of a ceasefire and prisoner exchange plan following indirect negotiations in Sharm el-Sheikh, with Türkiye, Egypt, and Qatar participating under US supervision.
According to the agreement, Hamas would return the bodies of 28 Israeli captives in exchange for Israel’s release of the bodies of Palestinians killed during the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
Since October 7, 2023, Israeli forces, backed by the US and European countries, have waged a genocidal war on Gaza marked by mass killings, starvation, destruction, displacement, and arbitrary arrests, ignoring international appeals and rulings from the International Court of Justice.
The assault has left over 238,000 Palestinians martyred or wounded, mostly women and children, with more than 11,000 missing and hundreds of thousands displaced amid a famine that has claimed numerous lives, especially among children. Much of Gaza’s urban landscape has been obliterated.
Meanwhile, the brutality of Israeli crimes continues to unfold as dozens of Palestinian bodies returned by the Israeli occupation forces revealed shocking evidence of field executions, torture, and abuse.
According to Dr. Mohammed Zaqout, director general of Gaza’s hospitals, the Ministry of Health has received 120 bodies from Israel in three batches, many of them unidentified. Forensic examinations revealed signs of extreme torture, burns, close-range gunshots, and even crushed limbs consistent with tank tracks. Many of the bodies were bound with plastic restraints or chains.
Zaqout said only six victims have been identified so far due to the lack of advanced DNA testing equipment, while Israel has refused to share genetic data it collected, except for three cases.
The limited capacity of morgue facilities means that bodies can be preserved for only about a week, forcing authorities to proceed with urgent burials. The Ministry has created an online database displaying victims’ photos and personal items to help families identify their loved ones.
Health Ministry director Munir al-Bursh described the scenes as “unprecedented horror,” noting that many of the bodies “were blindfolded, bound like animals, and burned, clear evidence of execution and torture after months of captivity.”
A forensic expert quoted by the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor confirmed the findings, documenting cases of execution by hanging, close-range shooting, and severe mutilation.
Attorney Samir al-Mana’ama of Al-Mizan Center for Human Rights said these practices constitute another episode of the ongoing genocide in Gaza. He emphasized that Israel’s systematic concealment of detainees’ fates and retention of bodies in “cemeteries of numbers” represent grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention, amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Euro-Med’s field and forensic teams described the returned bodies as “conclusive evidence of deliberate torture and extrajudicial executions.”
The organization urged the immediate entry of independent medical and human rights missions to document and preserve the evidence before it deteriorates. It also called on the International Criminal Court to expand its investigation into Israel’s crimes to include these acts of execution, torture, and enforced disappearance.
The report warned that the continued uncertainty surrounding thousands of missing persons and the withholding of hundreds of bodies deepen an unprecedented humanitarian and legal crisis and challenge the international community’s commitment to justice, truth, and accountability.
