GAZA, (The Palestine Foundation Pakistan)The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza announced on Monday that a total of 472 bodies have been recovered from across the Strip since the ceasefire took effect, with 123 of them remaining unidentified due to the severe mutilation caused by the Israeli genocide.
According to the ministry’s daily report, 93 Palestinians have been martyred and 337 others wounded since the ceasefire began on October 10, 2025. The ministry also confirmed receiving 195 bodies from the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), exchanged for the remains of Israeli captives. So far, the identities of 72 of those victims have been confirmed.
Over the past 48 hours alone, Gaza’s hospitals received eight newly recovered bodies pulled from beneath the rubble and 13 injured civilians. The ministry reiterated that many victims are still trapped under collapsed buildings and in inaccessible areas, as civil defense and ambulance teams struggle to reach them due to the widespread destruction and fuel shortages.
The ministry urged the families of the missing and the martyrs to provide all available information to complete its official records, emphasizing that the total number of victims of the Israeli genocide since October 7, 2023, has risen to 68,527 martyred and 170,395 injured.
In a related development, the Health Ministry confirmed that 41 unidentified Palestinian bodies, believed to be prisoners killed and later returned by the IOF, were buried in a mass grave on Monday as part of ongoing efforts to document and identify all victims with dignity.
Earlier the same day, IOF handed over 50 Palestinian bodies from Gaza as part of the most recent prisoner exchange deal. Palestinian sources reported that many of the returned corpses showed clear signs of torture and abuse before death, making identification nearly impossible. Human rights groups described the incident as yet another war crime added to Israel’s long record of violations against Palestinians.
The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor (Euro-Med) condemned Israel’s continued obstruction of forensic investigations, saying the occupation refuses to allow the entry of equipment and materials necessary for body recovery, autopsies, and DNA testing. This, the group said, has left hundreds of bodies unidentified, depriving families of their basic right to know the fate of their loved ones and bury them with dignity.
Euro-Med noted that the issue includes around 195 bodies handed over by Israel without any identifying information or explanation of the circumstances of death. Many of them bore unmistakable signs of torture, field execution, and extrajudicial killing, including those who were forcibly disappeared or detained before being killed.
The organization stressed that Israel’s withholding of bodies and refusal to permit independent investigations amount to collective punishment of Palestinian families and a grave violation of international humanitarian and human rights law.
