Gaza: Gaza's Health Ministry reported on Monday that it had received the remains of 45 Palestinians released by Israel via the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). This latest handover raises the total number of bodies returned under a ceasefire agreement to 270.

According to Anadolu Agency, forensic teams in Gaza have identified 78 bodies thus far and are continuing examinations according to approved medical procedures and protocols before the remains are documented and released to families. The ministry previously noted that many of the bodies returned by Israel exhibited signs of abuse, such as beatings, bound hands, blindfolds, and facial disfigurement.

The handover is part of the first phase of a ceasefire agreement that took effect on October 10. The deal involves the exchange of prisoners and bodies between Israel and Hamas, brokered by Turkey, Egypt, and Qatar, with oversight from the United States. Families in Gaza have been identifying the remains of their relatives, returned without names, by physical markings or clothing, due to the inoperable forensic facilities caused by the longstanding Israeli blockade and the destruction of laboratories.

Before this ceasefire, Israel held 735 Palestinian bodies in 'cemeteries of numbers,' as reported by the Palestinian National Campaign to Retrieve Martyrs' Bodies. The Israeli daily Haaretz has also reported that the Israeli army has been holding about 1,500 bodies of Palestinians from Gaza at the Sde Teiman military base in southern Israel.

Israel's actions have resulted in the deaths of more than 68,800 people, mostly women and children, and injured over 170,600 others in Gaza since October 2023.