This Thursday, October 16, Hamas accused Israel of returning the bodies of Palestinians with “marks of torture, abuse and executions”, which reveals, according to the extremist group, “the criminal and fascist nature” of the Israeli Army.
“The horrific scenes visible on the bodies of martyrs repatriated by the occupation [Israel]with marks of torture, abuse and executions in the camp, clearly reveal the criminal and fascist nature of the occupation army”, criticized Hamas in a statement.
The Ministry of Health of the Gaza Strip, controlled by Hamas, today received another 30 bodies of Palestinians from the Israeli authorities and reported that some “show signs of abuse and beatings”, as well as traces of having been handcuffed and blindfolded.
This delivery brings to 120 the number of Palestinian bodies returned by Israel, under the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip, out of a total of 360 planned.
For Hamas, the signs of abuse demonstrate the “moral and human decadence this entity has reached”, referring once again to Israel, which, “in its aggression, makes no distinction between the living and the dead” of the people of Palestine.
In the statement, the radical Palestinian group calls for “an urgent and complete investigation” into these “atrocious crimes” and for the Israeli perpetrators to be brought before international courts and “held accountable for committing crimes against humanity unprecedented in modern history.”
The ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip has resulted in the return, since Monday, of 20 live hostages and nine other dead hostages held by the Islamist group, in exchange for almost two thousand Palestinian prisoners, in addition to the 120 bodies to date.
After the transfer of two bodies on Wednesday night, the armed wing of Hamas admitted that it was unable to access the remaining 19 dead hostages yet to be returned.
“We are making a great effort to bring closure to this issue,” the al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement, noting that locating the bodies requires “special operations and equipment for search and recovery.”
The delay in handing over the dead hostages is putting pressure on the fragile ceasefire agreement, which provides for an international committee to help Hamas find the bodies reported missing.
On Wednesday night, the White House (American presidency) ruled out a violation of the understanding by Hamas, as had previously been suggested by the Israeli Government, which threatened to condition the flow of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip or even break the agreement and return to the military offensive in the enclave.
The Jerusalem Post newspaper reported today, citing diplomatic sources, that Israel is sharing data from its intelligence services with US mediation to facilitate the location of missing bodies.
The President of the United States, Donald Trump, was the main driver of the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip, negotiated over several days in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, with the mediation of Egyptian, Qatari and Turkish delegations.
At this stage, a ceasefire was agreed in the Gaza Strip, the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces, the mass entry of humanitarian aid into the Palestinian enclave and the exchange of hostages for prisoners.
The second phase will address reconstruction, as well as the disarmament of Hamas and the governance of the territory.
The war in the Gaza Strip was triggered by attacks led by Hamas on October 7, 2023 in southern Israel, in which around 1,200 people died and 251 were taken hostage.
In retaliation, Israel launched a large-scale military operation in the Gaza Strip, which caused more than 67,000 deaths, according to local authorities controlled by Hamas, the destruction of almost all of the territory’s infrastructure and the forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of people.
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