Gaza health ministry decries Israel army’s ‘inhumane’ treatment of dead bodies

The health ministry in Gaza on Thursday accused the Israeli army of treating exhumed bodies in an “inhumane” manner, saying it deposited a container containing scores of dead Palestinians without proper documentation.

The Israeli army rejected the accusation, saying its policy was to treat the bodies of the deceased “with dignity and respect.”

Israel has regularly taken dead bodies out of Gaza to determine whether they are hostages seized during Hamas’s October 7 attack which sparked the ongoing war in the Palestinian territory.

“The hostage identification process, conducted at a secure and alternative location, ensures optimal professional conditions and respect for the deceased,” the army statement said.

“Bodies determined not be those of hostages are returned with dignity and respect.”

However the Gaza health ministry said the Israeli army sent back a container on Wednesday containing 88 bodies “without any data or information that could help identify” them.

The ministry accused Israel of “exhuming graves and stealing bodies,” saying it held Israel “fully responsible for the inhumane and unethical treatment of the bodies.”

An AFP photographer saw a crowd gathered around the bodies on Thursday as they were unloaded from a truck, wrapped in blue tarp.

Hisham Mhanna, spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross, said it was not involved in the transfer of 88 bodies to Khan Younis in southern Gaza because they did not have proper documentation.

“The Red Cross declined to participate in the reception of the bodies because it did not comply with the applicable protocols. There are no data, lists, or evidence identifying these bodies, and we have no information about them whatsoever,” Mhanna said.

“We emphasise the right of all families to receive information about their relatives and loved ones and to carry out burial ceremonies in a manner that respects human dignity.”

Hamas’s October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people on Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures that include hostages killed in captivity.

Of the 251 hostages seized by militants, 97 are still held in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israel’s retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 41,534 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to figures provided by the territory’s health ministry. The UN has described the figures as reliable.