The Government Media Office in the Gaza Strip announced that 54 bodies of martyr prisoners, previously held by the Israeli occupation, were buried in a mass grave in Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza, after Israel refused to provide official lists of their names.

Ismail al-Thawabta, Director General of the Government Media Office in Gaza, confirmed that the occupation returned the bodies showing clear signs of torture. He explained that official examinations confirmed that several of them were executed by hanging or close-range gunfire, indicating deliberate field executions.

He added: “The bodies had exceeded the specified period (around five days) and were documented and photographed along with their personal belongings before being buried in numbered graves, after it was impossible to identify them due to the distortion of their features caused by torture.”

Since the implementation of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza began on October 10, the occupation has handed over 195 bodies of Palestinian martyrs who died in captivity.