The Ministry of Health has decided to bury 15 unidentified martyrs who could not be identified

The Ministry of Health in Gaza decided on Monday to bury 15 unidentified martyrs whose bodies had been held by the Israeli occupation authorities, after failing to identify them.

Last Wednesday, the Ministry received the bodies of 15 martyrs from the Israeli army through the International Committee of the Red Cross, bringing the total number of martyrs’ bodies received to 345. The Ministry has identified only 99 of these martyrs.

Earlier, the Ministry launched an online platform containing selected photos, “respecting the dignity of the deceased and not violating their privacy,” to give families the opportunity to identify their loved ones remotely before they are taken to hospitals.

The Ministry revealed that some bodies bore gunshot wounds to the chest and head, while others had shrapnel wounds and fractures to the skull and limbs. Additionally, some bodies were decomposed or frozen, complicating the examination, documentation, and identification process.

As part of the prisoner exchange stipulated in the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip, which came into effect on October 10, the Israeli occupation handed over dozens of bodies of martyrs in exchange for the Palestinian resistance handing over the bodies of Israeli prisoners.

For his part, Mahmoud al-Basal, spokesman for the Civil Defense in Gaza, said that the issue of missing persons and the recovery of bodies in the Strip is “one of the most difficult and painful issues,” emphasizing that thousands of Palestinians remain under the rubble of buildings destroyed since the beginning of the war, with search and recovery operations almost completely halted.

In this context, he explained that the Civil Defense has recovered hundreds of unidentified bodies in recent months, which were buried in unmarked graves in Deir al-Balah, including some whose identities were not established and were handed over to Palestinian authorities by the Israeli side.