Gaza, February 05 (QNA) - Spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Gaza Amani Al Naouq confirmed Thursday the presence of thousands of Palestinians listed as missing due to the war imposed by the Israeli occupation on the Gaza Strip since October 2023, noting that families continue to search for information about the fate of their relatives.

Al Naouq highlighted, in a special interview with Qatar News Agency (QNA), that the ICRC continues to support all relevant parties and coordinate with families in hopes of enabling more of them to obtain answers regarding the fate of their children, expressing hope that the process of returning victims' bodies by the occupation will help some families close a painful chapter of their suffering.

She noted that the transfer of bodies, facilitated by the ICRC, was part of its neutral humanitarian role and in coordination with relevant parties. She said that the Israeli occupation handed over last night, via the ICRC, the bodies of 54 Palestinian martyrs from Gaza that had been held by Israel, which were transferred to Al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City for identification according to procedures of the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

She added that the ICRC facilitated the unilateral return of the remains of Palestinians to Gaza as a neutral humanitarian intermediary and in coordination with relevant authorities, providing specialized containers for body preservation and vehicles equipped with cooling systems, alongside trained teams, to ensure the respectful and dignified transfer of the remains to the Strip.

She added that forensic authorities in Gaza will begin work to attempt to identify the remains, noting that the process faces challenges due to limited resources and capabilities, emphasizing that the Ministry of Health and the Forensic Medicine Department in Gaza are the only authorities authorized to announce official numbers and details.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health reported on Wednesday the receipt of 54 bodies of Palestinian martyrs, in addition to 66 boxes containing incomplete remains, released by the occupation through the Red Cross. It added that its medical teams continue handling the bodies according to approved medical procedures and protocols, in cooperation with relevant authorities and committees, in preparation for completing examinations, documentation, and delivery to families.

official reports from the Forensic Medicine Department and the Ministry of Health in Gaza indicated that most of the bodies handed over by the occupation during the stages of body transfers under prisoner exchange deals were often unrecognizable, preventing families from identifying most of them, with some buried in mass graves.

According to news reports, 766 bodies of Palestinian martyrs remain held by the occupation, including 373 bodies held since the war on Gaza in October 2023. Among them, 88 Palestinians died in prisons due to poor living conditions, medical negligence, and torture, including 53 from the Gaza Strip.(QNA)