Israel returns bodies of 15 Palestinians to Gaza

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DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hospital officials in Gaza said they have received the bodies of 15 Palestinians from Israel.

The announcement, made by officials at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, brings the number of Palestinian bodies returned to Gaza to 285.

The latest return of bodies made as part of the fragile Israel-Hamas ceasefire came a day after Palestinian militants in Gaza handed over the body of an Israeli soldier taken hostage in the Oct. 7, 2023 attack that started the war.

Hamas has returned the remains of 21 hostages to Israel under a ceasefire that began Oct. 10, which is aimed at winding down the deadliest and most destructive war ever fought between Israel and the Palestinian militant group. All living hostages have been released.

Militants in Gaza have released one to three bodies every few days. Israel has pushed to speed up the returns and in certain cases has said the remains were not those of hostages. Hamas has said the work is complicated by widespread devastation.

For each Israeli hostage returned, Israel has been releasing the remains of 15 Palestinians. Fewer than half have been identified. Forensic work is complicated by a lack of DNA testing kits in Gaza. The Health Ministry there posts photos of the remains online, in the hope that families will recognize them.

The war was triggered by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage.

Israel responded with a sweeping military offensive that has killed more than 68,800 Palestinians in Gaza, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between combatants and civilians. The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals, maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by independent experts.

Israel, which has denied accusations by a U.N. commission of inquiry and others of committing genocide in Gaza, has disputed the ministry’s figures without providing a contradicting toll.