Hundreds of Palestinians in Gaza solemnly gathered on Wednesday to bury 54 Palestinian people's bodies and remains returned by the Israeli occupation forces. The victims' faces and bodies were so disfigured by torture that many could not be identified, according to the Palestinian Information Center.
The remains were transferred through the International Committee of the Red Cross to the Gaza Health Ministry, which confirmed that the victims had been detained and tortured by Israeli forces during their campaign of extermination against Gaza’s population.
X account of the Palestinian Information Center
Palestinians in Gaza receive the bodies and remains of 54 people tortured to death, and held in custody by Israel, Oct. 22, 2025. “These bodies bear the marks of brutal torture, extrajudicial executions, and deliberate killings,” said Ismail Al-Thawabta, director of Gaza’s Government Media Office. He confirmed that the Gaza authorities supervised the burials of the victims Israel had held during its assault.
Forensic examinations uncovered rope marks, strangulation wounds, and bullet holes fired at close range—clear evidence of field executions by Israeli soldiers, Al-Thawabta said.
On Tuesday, the Health Ministry had reported receiving another 15 unidentified bodies from Israeli custody, bringing the total number of repatriated corpses to 165.
Since Israel launched its extermination assault on Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, the Palestinian Health Ministry has recorded 68,229 Palestinians killed and 170,369 injured.
Even after the so-called ceasefire took effect, Israeli forces have continued to kill Palestinians, with 87 additional deaths and 311 injuries reported, along with the recovery of 432 bodies from beneath the rubble, the ministry said.
Ahmad Masoud, director of The Palestinian Center for Missing and Forcibly Disappeared Persons, estimated that around 6,000 Palestinians remain missing or disappeared since the start of Israel’s genocide. Israeli military presence and its destruction of infrastructure have also obstructed accurate documentation and identification efforts.
Most of the missing, Masoud said, are young men and women—a loss that compounds Gaza’s deep social and humanitarian collapse under siege and genocide.
On Monday, The Guardian reported that Israel has returned mutilated bodies of Palestinian detainees showing signs of severe torture and abuse . The British outlet said it withheld publishing photos “due to the grotesque condition” of the corpses.
Among the bodies was one man killed by strangulation with a cord. Gaza authorities have so far received 135 tortured bodies that were held at Israel’s notorious Sde Teman military detention facility in the Naqab desert.
Human rights organizations have called for an international investigation into systematic killings and torture inside Israeli detention centers.
The Guardian also cited evidence of detainees being handcuffed, blindfolded, strapped to hospital beds, and forced to wear diapers—details supported by photographs and testimonies published last year.
