Gaza funerals held for unidentified Palestinians, bodies returned by Israel

October 24, 2025

Palestinians in Gaza have prayed at a mass funeral for 54 people previously held in Israeli detention and returned under the ceasefire deal. The bodies were so badly mutilated that health officials could not identify the deceased.

BBC :

Israel has returned the bodies of dozens more unidentified Palestinians to Gaza for burial in a mass grave in Deir el-Balah, with some badly mutilated and bearing marks of torture and execution.

The Gaza Health Ministry reported on Wednesday that Israel transferred 30 more Palestinian bodies, raising the total returned under the ceasefire agreement to 195.

Under the United States-brokered deal, Israel agreed to return the bodies of 15 Palestinians for each deceased Israeli captive that is returned.

On Wednesday, Israel’s military confirmed it had identified the remains of two more captives recovered from Gaza: Aryeh Zalmanovich and Master Sergeant Tamir Adar.

Hamas has returned the remains of 15 captives since October 10, of the 28 promised under the ceasefire terms.

Gaza’s Health Ministry indicated that relatives have identified 57 of the returned Palestinian bodies, while the remaining 54 unidentified ones were buried on Wednesday.

A funeral procession coordinated by Gaza’s civil defence agency proceeded from Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis to a cemetery in Deir el-Balah.
AFP footage from Nasser Hospital captured dozens of bodies in white bags placed on the ground as rescue workers gathered to conduct prayers for the dead.

“Every day I come here, maybe I recognise him from his clothes or the trousers he went out in since October 7,” said Umm Hassan Hammad, who continues to search for her missing son’s body.