{"id":266535,"date":"2026-01-31T04:13:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T04:13:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/266535\/"},"modified":"2026-01-31T04:13:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T04:13:08","slug":"after-israel-buries-last-hostage-gazans-wait-for-closure-on-their-dead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/266535\/","title":{"rendered":"After Israel buries last hostage, Gazans wait for closure on their dead"},"content":{"rendered":"

Israel<\/a> has buried its last hostage of the Gaza war, Ran Gvili, but many Palestinians have been kept waiting for similar closure, after the bodies of their relatives were returned in such poor condition that experts are struggling to identify them. <\/p>\n

Gaza<\/a>‘s Health Ministry said it received the remains of 15 Palestinians handed over through the Red Cross, continuing a hostage-and-detainee exchange agreed under US President Donald Trump’s ceasefire plan<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The 15 \u201cwere killed in Gaza and in prisons, where their bodies had been held throughout the war,\u201d said Moein Al Waheedi, the head of a Health Ministry committee for receiving bodies. <\/p>\n

It brings the total to 360 bodies received by Gaza officials under the ceasefire deal, which required Israel to hand over the remains of 15 Palestinians for every deceased Israeli hostage returned by Hamas<\/a>. <\/p>\n

But for families already devastated by loss, the return of remains has opened a new chapter of anguish. Mr Al Waheedi said the bodies arrived in extremely poor condition, making identification difficult even for trained professionals.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are forced to rely on primitive methods, personal belongings, clothing, or any remaining facial features,\u201d he said. \u201cThese methods are ineffective and allow us to identify only a very small number of bodies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Inside overwhelmed medical centres, teams work with limited resources to document and identify the remains before handing them over to families. <\/p>\n

Without laboratory or genetic testing equipment in Gaza, many families are left waiting, unsure whether they will ever be able to bury their loved ones properly. Israel tightly restricts the entry of supplies to the territory, often blocking items it claims could have military uses. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are calling for the entry of laboratory and genetic testing equipment so families can receive their loved ones, honour them, and bury them,\u201d Mr Al Waheedi added.<\/p>\n

Graves violated<\/p>\n

For some families, graves have already been violated once. <\/p>\n

Despite persistent danger, Sufyan Abu Mutair, 42, returned last week to Al Batsh Cemetery in Gaza <\/a>city, searching for what remained of his son Rushdi\u2019s resting place. Rushdi was killed in August 2024. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy son was my entire life,\u201d Mr Abu Mutair told The National. \u201cThe day I lost him was the worst day of my life. I never imagined a day worse than that, but it came when I lost his grave.\u201d<\/p>\n

Israeli bulldozing had flattened large parts of the cemetery. Where Rushdi\u2019s grave once stood, Mr Abu Mutair found only broken stone and a mound of sand.<\/p>\n

\u201cI found the plaque with his name smashed. The grave itself was gone,\u201d he said. \u201cI tried digging through the sand. I thought maybe I could recognise him by the clothes he was buried in. But there was nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Standing among the ruins, Mr Abu Mutair described a grief that feels endless. \u201cI lost my son. Then I lost his body. This heartbreak will stay with me for the rest of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mohammad Abu Nada, 31, lost his brother Ibrahim, Ibrahim\u2019s wife Lamyaa, and two of their children in early 2024. They were buried in Al Batsh Cemetery. Two other children survived but were seriously wounded and later sent abroad for treatment.<\/p>\n

For months, the graves were a place of weekly visits, especially for Mr Abu Nada\u2019s parents, who asked repeatedly to be taken there. Then, access to the area was cut off for nearly eight months as eastern Gaza was occupied and residents were displaced.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the ceasefire was signed, we went back,\u201d Mr Abu Nada told The National. \u201cAt first, the graves were still there. I visited them more than once.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then came the revelation last week that the cemetery was being excavated in Israel’s search for its final hostage, Mr Gvili. <\/p>\n

\u201cFor two days, the army worked in the cemetery. We were terrified,\u201d Mr Abu Nada recalled. \u201cWe kept praying the graves would remain, at least as witnesses to our loved ones.\u201d<\/p>\n

They did not. After the military withdrew, Abu Nada returned to the cemetery. \u201cThere were no graves. No markers. Nothing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Despite the danger, families entered the area, digging through piles of sand. They found bones and decomposed remains, but no way to identify them. With no access for forensic teams, families buried whatever remains they found in a large pit left behind.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, my brother, his wife, and their two sons have no graves. No bodies. We can no longer visit them,\u201d Abu Nada said. \u201cAll of this happened because of the body of a soldier.\u201d<\/p>\n

Across Gaza, families are mourning not only the dead, but the loss of dignity after death. \u201cThe dead are supposed to be treated with dignity everywhere in the world,\u201d Abu Mutair said. \u201cBut here, even that right has been taken.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Israel has buried its last hostage of the Gaza war, Ran Gvili, but many Palestinians have been kept…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":266536,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[64519,50,85,46,43,2865,789],"class_list":{"0":"post-266535","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-israel","8":"tag-foreign-desk-team","9":"tag-gaza","10":"tag-il","11":"tag-israel","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-standard","14":"tag-story"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=266535"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266535\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/266536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}