Agencies :
The death toll in Gaza has climbed to over 69,000 since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, Gaza health authorities said Saturday.
As Israel and Palestinian fighters carried out another exchange of remains under the fragile ceasefire agreement.
The latest increase in deaths comes as more bodies are recovered and identified across the war-ravaged territory since the truce took effect on Oct 10.
The toll also includes Palestinians killed in recent Israeli strikes that, according to Israel, targeted remaining resistance positions.
Hospital officials in Gaza confirmed that Israel returned the bodies of 15 Palestinians on Saturday, a day after fighters handed over the remains of an Israeli hostage identified as Lior Rudaeff, who was born in Argentina, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.
The exchange of remains forms a key part of the ceasefire’s initial stage, which requires Hamas to repatriate all hostage remains.
Families and supporters again rallied in Tel Aviv on Saturday evening demanding the return of all hostages.
The truce aims to de-escalate what has become the deadliest and most destructive conflict between Israel and Hamas.
The war began with Hamas’ October 7, 2023, assault on southern Israel, which killed about 1,200 people and resulted in 251 hostages being taken.
Meanwhile, Israeli settlers launched two attacks on Palestinian farmers and residents in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, amid a surge of settler violence during this year’s olive harvest season.
Under the current arrangement, Israel releases the remains of 15 Palestinians for each Israeli hostage returned.
Ahmed Dheir, head of forensic medicine at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, said that the remains of 300 Palestinians have now been handed back, with 89 identified so far.
“We lack the necessary resources and DNA testing capacity to identify them all,” Dheir said, adding that unidentified remains are being buried in groups.
Families anxiously inspected body bags in hopes of finding missing loved ones. “Close it, it’s not him,” one family murmured after looking inside.
“I come here every day. I haven’t lost hope. I’m still waiting for him,” said the mother of a missing boy, who withheld her name.
Gaza’s Health Ministry reported that 69,169 people have been killed since the war began.
The ministry, run by the Hamas administration but staffed by professional medics, maintains detailed casualty records that independent experts generally consider credible.
