Israel returns bodies of 89 Palestinians to Gaza, kills more

Israel returned the bodies of more than 80 Palestinians killed in its military offensive on the Gaza Strip, as Israeli airstrikes killed at least 18 more people on Monday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said.

Yamen Abu Suleiman, the director of the Palestinian Civil Emergency Service in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, said it was unclear whether the bodies had been dug up from cemeteries by the army during the ground offensive, or whether they were "detainees who had been tortured and killed".

"The occupation provided us with no information about the names, or ages, or anything. This is a war crime, a crime against humanity," Abu Suleiman said.

He said the bodies would be examined in an attempt to determine the causes of death and to identify them, before being buried in a mass grave at a cemetery near Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.

The Gaza government media office said Israel had sent 89 bodies as "bones and decomposed bodies in an inhumane manner".

It said Israeli forces had "stolen" 2,000 bodies since Oct 7 from dozens of cemeteries, which they bulldozed during their ongoing military offensive.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the return of the bodies. In the past, Israel has said it returned bodies after checks they were not Israeli hostages who had been held by Hamas since the 7 October attack on Israel.

No ceasefire deal

The Israeli Hostages Families Forum asked why Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would allow the handover of Palestinian bodies without a ceasefire deal with Hamas.

"Why are bodies being returned outside the framework of a comprehensive deal? Such an agreement could bring back living hostages for rehabilitation and the deceased for proper burial," they said in a statement.

In southeast Khan Younis, residents said Israeli aerial and tank shelling continued overnight, including in areas for which Israel had issued evacuation orders.

An Israeli airstrike killed eight Palestinians in a vehicle on the road near Khan Younis on Monday, medics said.

The Israeli military said on Monday it had killed Abdel Fattah Al-Zriei, whom it claimed was involved in the weapons manufacturing department in Hamas. The strike took place on Sunday, it added.

Palestinian health officials said Zriei, who was deputy minister of the economy in the Gaza Strip, was "assassinated" in an Israeli strike on his house in Deir Al-Balah, in central Gaza, that also killed his mother.

Israel's war on Gaza has killed at least 39,623 people, according to the Palestinian enclave's health ministry.

According to Israeli tallies, 1,200 people were killed in a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel and 250 taken captive.

(Reuters)