Palestinians in Khan Younis were desperately trying to identify bodies of relatives who were released by Israel and handed over to authorities in the enclave.

The Gaza health ministry said on Thursday (October 16) Israel had released 30 bodies of Palestinians killed during the conflict, taking the number of bodies it has received since Monday to 120.

Israel holds bodies of Palestinians killed since October 7, 2023, including of fighters who took part in the attack and the fighting afterwards.

With limited technical means, the process of identifying the bodies has proven difficult, one doctor in Khan Younis said.

“Our means are primitive (basic),” said Ahmad Thahir, a doctor working with a committee in Gaza tasked with identifying Palestinians killed during the war. “We do not have DNA or equipment or specialised examinations or laboratories,” he added saying that they rely on relatives to identify the bodies.

Palestinian woman, Ghada Musbeh, was among those waiting to try and identify her loved one. She says she has been looking for her husband.

Musbeh also called on international authorities to "communicate with the Israeli army to be able to identify the bodies and their names, because we do not know their names."

Hamas freed the last living Israeli hostages from Gaza on Monday (October 13) under the ceasefire deal and Israel sent home busloads of Palestinian detainees, as U.S. President Donald Trump declared the end of the two-year-long war.

Israel “categorically” rejects allegations of systematic abuse within its detention facilities and said detainees are given food and drink regularly and have access to medical care, and that if necessary, they are transferred to a medical facility with advanced capabilities.

A dispute over the return of hostages' bodies held by Hamas threatens to derail the truce and other unresolved elements of the plan, including disarmament of militants and Gaza’s future governance.

Israeli government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian told reporters Israel remained committed to the agreement and continued to uphold its obligations, demanding Hamas return the bodies of the 19 deceased hostages it had not handed over.

The Islamist faction has handed over 10 bodies but Israel said one was not that of a hostage.

The Gaza war was sparked by a Hamas attack that killed around 1,200 people in Israel with 251 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel's military has killed at least 67,000 people in Gaza according to local health authorities, with thousands more feared dead under the rubble.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

Palestinians struggle to identify bodies of relatives handed over by Israel

VIDEO SHOWS: RED CROSS VEHICLES ARRIVING / RED CROSS VEHICLES CARRYING A NUMBER OF PALESTINIAN BODIES / PALESTINIANS LOOKING TO IDENTIFY THE BODIES OF THEIR LOVED ONES / BODIES PLACED IN BODY BAGS WITH NUMBERS WRITTEN ON THEM / COMMENTS FROM VARIOUS PALESTINIANS

SHOWS: KHAN YOUNIS, GAZA (OCTOBER 15, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. VARIOUS OF RED CROSS VEHICLES PARKED NEAR NASSER HOSPITAL

2. SIGN ON VEHICLE READING "ICRC, Comite International Geneve"

3. PEOPLE CARRYING THE BODY OF A PALESTINIAN / BODIES IN BACK OF VEHICLE

4. PEOPLE TRANSPORTING BODIES PLACED ON STRETCHERS

KHAN YOUNIS, GAZA (OCTOBER 16, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all)

5. PALESTINIANS SITTING, WAITING TO IDENTIFY THE BODIES OF THEIR LOVED ONES

6. PALESTINIAN WOMAN WHOSE HUSBAND IS MISSING, GHADA MUSBEH, LOOKING THROUGH HER PHONE

7. VARIOUS OF MUSBEH HOLDING HER PHONE AND MAN LOOKING AT COMPUTER SCREEN

8. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PALESTINIAN WOMAN WHOSE HUSBAND IS MISSING, GHADA MUSBEH, SAYING:

"The Red Cross has brought bodies; ninety bodies and we have come to see if he (referring to her husband) is with them or not. The appearance of the martyrs, we do not know who they are, because they are disfigured and the Jews (Israelis) have tortured them. We don’t know anything about them. Their appearance… we don’t know where my husband is. It is not known."

9. MUSBEH SAYING NO TO THE IMAGES THE MAN IS SHOWING HER ON THE COMPUTER

10. PEOPLE LOOKING AT PICTURE FROM MUSBEH'S PHONE

11. MUSBEH SHOWING PICTURE OF HER HUSBAND

12. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PALESTINIAN WOMAN WHOSE HUSBAND'S BODY IS MISSING, GHADA MUSBEH, SAYING:

"(We call) on the Red Cross, international bodies, and the World Health Organization to communicate with the Israeli army to be able to identify the bodies and their names, because we do not know their names. They have sent numbers, and we do not know their names. We do not know how to describe which is for which. And everyone is saying ‘this is my son, this is my son’ and we do not know. I hope they would communicate with the Israeli army so they can tell us their names, and who are the detainees and who are those dead – to tell us their names. These are numbers and we don’t know what these numbers are."

KHAN YOUNIS, GAZA (OCTOBER 15, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all)

13. MAN STANDING NEXT TO BODIES PLACED ON THE FLOOR AND WRITING ON A PIECE OF PAPER

14. VARIOUS OF BODIES PLACED ON THE FLOOR WITH NUMBERS WRITTEN ON THE BODY BAGS

15. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PALESTINIAN, NIVINE DAHDOUH, SAYING:

"We do not know where to come or go. It is difficult to think. If he is martyred, and (if) I saw him with my own eyes and I buried him, then May God bless and grant peace. But the thinking is that you do not know if he is alive or dead or (if he is a) detainees, and we do not have any information on all these issues. So, we try as much as possible to search. There is hope that he would be among those or those or those."

KHAN YOUNIS, GAZA (OCTOBER 16, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all)

16. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE SITTING AND WAITING TO FIND THE BODIES OF THEIR LOVED ONES

17. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PALESTINIAN DOCTOR IN CHARGE OF A COMMITTEE IN GAZA TASKED WITH MANAGING RELEASED BODIES, AHMAD THAHIR, SAYING:

"In terms of identifying and confirming (the bodies), we try in all ways, but our means are primitive (basic) and we rely on identifying them through the relatives only, not through scientific means. We do not have DNA or equipment or specialised examinations or laboratories."

KHAN YOUNIS, GAZA (OCTOBER 15, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all)

18. RED CROSS VEHICLES DRIVING / PALESTINIANS STANDING OUTSIDE