Mediators asked to push for next steps in Gaza ceasefire

• Trump urges patience as Hamas reiterates commitment to finding, handing over bodies of all Israeli prisoners
• Outcry in Gaza as several Palestinian prisoners’ remains show signs of torture, mutilation, ‘organ theft’

GAZA: Amid an outcry over the return of mutilated remains of Palestinian prisoners by Israel, Hamas has called on mediators to push for the next steps under the ceasefire deal in Gaza, including reopening the border, letting in aid, beginning reconstruction, setting up an administration and completing Israel’s withdrawal from the besieged enclave.

Although bombing and airstrikes in Gaza have largely stopped under US President Donald Trump’s plan, endorsed by mediators Egypt, Qatar and Turkiye, Tel Aviv has continued to violate the truce with shelling and aid restrictions.

Local media reported artillery attacks in al-Bureij refugee camp, central Gaza, resulting in at least 10 people wou­nded over the past 24 hours, Middle East Eye reported.

According to an Al Jazeera correspondent, Israeli artillery shelling also targeted the Shujaiya neighbourhood in Gaza City.

Israel has repeatedly clai­med it is preparing for the reopening of the Rafah crossing with Egypt, to allow Pales­tinians to move in and out, but has given no concrete date.

Hamas insists it was committed to returning all the remains of Israeli prisoners still unaccounted for under Gaza’s ruins, even as a Turkish official said specialists dispatched to help find bodies were awaiting Israel’s authorisation to enter.

But it said the process “may require some time, as some of these corpses were buried in tunnels destroyed by the occupation, while others remain under the rubble of buildings it bombed and demolished”.

Trump appeared on Wednesday to call for patience when it came to the bodies’ return, insisting Hamas was “actually digging” for hostages’ remains.

Outcry over ‘mutilated bodies’

Meanwhile, human rights monitors and medical experts have condemned the conditions of 120 Palestinian bodies handed over by Israel, noting that many of the remains show “clear evidence” of torture and the possibility of organ theft.

According to Middle East Eye, the Government Media Office in Gaza said that official examinations showed that most of the Palestinian bodies retrieved indicated systematic torture, field executions and crushings.

The return of the unidentified bodies came in three bat­ches, with 45 bodies handed over on Tuesday, another 45 on Wednesday and 30 on Thursday.

Muneer Alboursh, director general of the Ministry of Health, described the bodies in a post on X as being “bound like animals, blindfolded and bore horrific signs of torture and burns that reveal the extent of the crimes committed in secret”.

“They did not die naturally; they were executed after being restrained. These people were not buried underground, they were kept in the occupation’s refrigerators for long months,” he added.

Graphic images circulating online show decomposing bodies bound with rope and blindfolded, with what forensic reports have identified as signs of physical torture.

Some clips showed Palestinians viewing screens showing images of the corpses, attempting to identify if the bodies belonged to loved ones.

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor noted that remains released from Israel “bore clear marks of hanging, rope imprints around their necks, injuries from close-range gunfire, bound hands and feet with plastic restraints, and blindfolds”.

It added that corpses showed signs of being crushed by tanks, while others indicated that individuals were subjected to fractures, burns and deep wounds.

Ismail Al-Thawabta, director general of the Government Media Office in Gaza, also mentioned suspicions of organ theft by Israel.

“When we examined the bodies, we found that large parts were missing. There were half bodies, bodies without heads, without limbs, without eyes, and without internal organs,” he told Al Jazeera, adding that there was a high possibility that Israel stole these organs.

Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2025



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