Israel returns dozens of bodies to Gaza… Palestinians demand details

Israel on Wednesday returned the bodies of 88 Palestinians killed in its assault on the Gaza Strip, but the health ministry in the enclave refused to bury them before Israel revealed details about their identities and where it killed them.

The bodies were transported to Gaza in a container on a truck through an Israeli-controlled crossing, but Palestinian officials say no information has been provided about the identities, ages or whereabouts of those killed.

Officials at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis refused to receive and bury them, demanding that the International Committee of the Red Cross ask Israel for details.

The ministry said in a statement: “The Palestinian Ministry of Health has suspended the procedures for receiving the container until all data and information about these bodies are completed, so that their families can identify them.”

Ismail al-Thawabte, director general of the government’s media office in Gaza, said health ministry officials demanded that the truck driver return the bodies of the dead Palestinians to the Israeli crossing from which they came. The truck then left the hospital.

He told Reuters that they must act in accordance with international humanitarian law and “preserve the dignity of martyrs and their families.”

The Red Cross said it was not involved in the transfer.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said in a statement: “We reaffirm the right of all families to obtain any information about their loved ones and to carry out their burial ceremonies in a manner that preserves their human dignity and is consistent with customs and traditions.”