Listen to this article
About 4 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Pronunciation errors may occur. We work with our partners to continually review and improve results.
The bodies of 15 more unidentified Palestinians killed during the Gaza war were handed over by Israel on Thursday in the latest exchange of prisoners and detainees between Israel and Hamas as part of the initial phase of the US-brokered ceasefire plan.
The release of the bodies came three days after Israeli forces recovered the remains of the last hostage — Ran Gvili — detained in Gaza for over 840 days after being captured by Hamas during the October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel.
Palestinian families are anxiously waiting to learn the fate of their loved ones as forensic teams work to identify the latest batch of unidentified bodies from Israel.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) facilitated the handover of the bodies on Thursday, transporting the bodies to Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.
ICRC spokesman Pat Griffiths said Thursday’s handover marked the end of a months-long operation to facilitate the release of the living and dead between the two sides.
A total of 360 bodies of dead Palestinians were handed over to Gaza officials – all unidentified at the time of liberation, and many of them wearing signs of torture and abuseaccording to Gaza forensic experts.
Gaza’s health ministry said Thursday that Israel had released 30 bodies of Palestinians killed during the war, bringing the total bodies received since Monday to 120. Gaza forensic experts are working to identify the bodies, some of which they say show signs of physical violence.
Until now, ohOnly 99 of the Palestinian bodies handed over since October have been identified, Gaza’s health ministry said, with health officials forced to bury the unidentified bodies in mass graves.
“The work that the forensic authorities are doing here is incredibly important,” Griffiths told CBC News independent reporter Mohamed El Saife outside Al-Shifa Hospital on Thursday.
“Families [have been] wait for answers for months or even years, [and] will finally have the chance to receive them.”
Mu’in Al-Wahidi, head of the special committee responsible for receiving the remains at Al-Shifa Hospital, said forensic doctors will now work to identify the bodies.
This latest release ends an operation that began in October after the signing of a truce agreement between Hamas and Israel on October 10, 2025, allowing the release of 20 live hostages by Hamas and 1,808 Palestinian prisoners by Israel. In later phases, eThe ICRC facilitated the return of the deceased, including 27 of the 28 Israeli hostages and 360 Palestinians, he said.
“We are relieved to have helped reunite families with their loved ones. For families whose deceased loved ones have been repatriated, we hope that this has provided the opportunity to fully experience their mourning,” said Julien Lerisson, regional head of the ICRC.
Israel has recovered the remains of Ran Gvili, a police officer killed in the Hamas attack on October 7. Gvili’s remains were the last to be detained in Gaza, having been held there for more than 840 days. The recovery is seen as an important step ahead of the next phase of US President Donald Trump’s peace plan.
The handover of all remaining living and dead hostages was a fundamental commitment enshrined in the first phase of the ceasefire agreement. Subsequent stages remain to be taken, with profound divisions on what comes next, including the disarmament of Hamas.
“It is crucial that a ceasefire is maintained after this phase, it is crucial that humanitarian aid can enter Gaza without obstacles and that international law is respected,” Amani Al-Naouq, spokesperson for the Red Cross in Gaza, told CBC News.
Gaza’s health ministry said Israeli airstrikes, tank shelling and gunfire had killed at least 490 people since the truce came into force in October, after “two years of war which largely demolished the Palestinian enclave”.
The latest deaths are added to mMore than 71,400 Palestinians were killed during the Israeli military attack on Gaza, according to figures provided by Palestinian officials. The war was sparked by the Hamas-led attack in southern Israel in 2023, which killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages, according to Israeli counts.
On Monday, medics said two men were killed by Israeli forces in eastern Khan Younis, in an area adjacent to where the army operates, adding to the latest violence shaking the fragile ceasefire.
The Israeli military told Reuters it was not aware of any casualties from Thursday’s Israeli fire.
Later in the day THURSDAY, An Israeli airstrike killed at least one Palestinian and injured others in the Maghazi camp in central Gaza. It is unclear what motivated the attack, and the Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Israel said four soldiers were killed by Palestinian militants in the small coastal territory during the ceasefire.
The two sides exchanged responsibilities for violations of the truce. Moving to Phase 2, the United States and its mediating partners, Egypt and Qatar, must confront the more contentious issue of disarming Hamas, which the group has long rejected. The plan also provides for the deployment of an international peacekeeping force.
