GAZA August 5th– The Palestinian Ministry of Health reported that Israeli airstrikes killed at least 18 additional Palestinians on Monday, while Israel also returned the bodies of over 80 Palestinians who had died in its military onslaught in the Gaza Strip.
The bodies may have been “detainees who had been tortured and killed,” according to Yamen Abu Suleiman, director of the Palestinian Civil Emergency Service in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, or they may have been unearthed from cemeteries by the army during the ground invasion.
“We received no information from the occupation on the names, ages, or anything else. “This is a crime against humanity and a war crime,” declared Abu Suleiman.
He said the bodies would be inspected to try and identify the reasons for death before being interred in a mass grave in a Khan Younis cemetery close to Nasser Hospital.
The Gaza government media office, controlled by Hamas, reported that Israel had send 89 bodies that were described as “bones and decomposed bodies in an inhumane manner.”
It claimed that since October 7, Israeli forces had “stolen” 2,000 bodies from dozens of cemeteries that they had destroyed using bulldozers as part of their ongoing military campaign.
Regarding the return of the bodies, the Israeli military remained silent at first. Israel has previously claimed that it returned the bodies after verifying they weren’t Israeli prisoners that Hamas had been holding since the attack on Israel on October 7.
The Israeli Hostages Families Forum in Jerusalem questioned why Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would consent to the transfer of Palestinian bodies in the absence of an agreement with Hamas on a ceasefire.
“What is the reason behind returning bodies outside the parameters of a thorough agreement? In a statement, they stated that “such an agreement could bring back living hostages for rehabilitation and the deceased for proper burial.”
Residents of southeast Khan Younis reported that overnight, Israeli tank and aircraft shelling persisted, even in areas for which Israel had issued evacuation orders due to militant strikes allegedly coming from that location.
Medics said that eight Palestinians were murdered in a car on a route close to Khan Younis on Monday by an Israeli air strike.
The Israeli military claimed on Monday to have killed Abdel-Fattah Al-Zriei, claiming he was a part of Hamas’ weapons production division. It stated that the strike happened on Sunday.
According to Palestinian health officials, Zriei, the deputy minister of the economy in the Gaza Strip, was “assassinated” together with his mother during an Israeli strike on his home in the central Gazan neighbourhood of Deir Al-Balah.
Israeli tolls indicate that 1,200 people were killed and 250 were captured during Hamas’ invasion of southern Israel.
The Gaza Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between combatants and civilians, reports that the Israeli military campaign in Gaza has claimed the lives of at least 39,550 Palestinians.
According to Palestinian health officials, the majority of those who have died are civilians. Approximately one-third of the Palestinian deaths, according to Israel, which has lost about 330 soldiers in Gaza.
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- Mohammad Kaif Zaidi is a student of MA Mass Communication and Journalism at Aligarh Muslim University. His background is strongly backed by his previous experience in the vibrant spectrum of mass communication and journalism. He possesses a creative and technical personality with a robust approach towards his work.
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