Israel returns 45 Palestinian bodies to Gaza authorities

Morgue workers unload the bodies of Palestinians that had been in Israeli custody, after they were transported by Red Crescent vehicles and refrigerated trucks, to the Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip. Photo / Omar Al-Qatta, AFP

Israel has returned the bodies of 45 Palestinians to Gaza authorities, the Palestinian territory’s Hamas-run health ministry said, bringing the total number handed over as part of a US-brokered ceasefire deal to 90.

In the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis, AFP journalists saw morgue workers unloading refrigerated trucks, parked alongside Red Cross vehicles.

Under the deal pushed by US President Donald Trump and aimed at ending the two-year Gaza war, Israel was to turn over the bodies of 15 Palestinians for every deceased Israeli returned.

On Monday, Hamas gave up three Israeli bodies and one Nepalese for transfer.

This was followed on Tuesday by three more deceased Israelis and one as yet unidentified body that the military says was not that of someone listed among dead hostages.

The swap has also seen the last 20 surviving hostages return home from Gaza in exchange for nearly 2000 Palestinian prisoners freed from Israeli jails, as well as a halt in the fighting and bombardment.

The remains of 20 other hostages are still in Gaza, and there is domestic pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to tie aid to the fate of the bodies.

Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has threatened to cut off supplies to Gaza if Hamas fails to return the remains of soldiers still held in the territory.

On Wednesday, a lifeline border crossing between Gaza and Egypt remained shut despite reports that it could reopen to aid convoys, as Israel insisted Hamas hand over the remains of the last deceased hostages.

-Agence France-Presse