(MENAFN) The Gaza Health Ministry announced on Thursday that it had received the remains of 30 additional Palestinians from Israel through Red Cross teams, raising the total to 120 since a ceasefire agreement came into effect last Friday.

According to reports, ministry teams are performing medical examinations, documenting the deceased, and preparing them for return to their families. So far, four of the bodies have been identified by relatives.

“Signs of abuse, beating, handcuffs, and blindfolding were visible on some of the bodies,” the ministry stated.

This transfer is part of the Gaza ceasefire deal that started last Friday between Israel and Hamas, with the first phase of the agreement involving the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

The Palestinian National Campaign for the Retrieval of Martyrs’ Bodies reported that Israel currently retains the remains of 735 Palestinian prisoners, including 67 children. Reports also indicate that nearly 1,500 bodies of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip are held at Israel’s Sde Teiman military base in the Negev Desert.

Since October 2023, Israeli military actions have killed almost 68,000 Palestinians in Gaza, the majority being women and children, leaving much of the territory uninhabitable.

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