Israeli authorities have returned dozens of Palestinian bodies and human remains to Gaza without identifying the deceased or explaining their deaths, Palestinian medical officials report. The remains arrived at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on Wednesday in plain white bags, now being examined by forensic teams desperate to provide answers to grieving families.

Medics report that several bodies showed signs of mutilation, with skull samples placed in separate bags. The International Committee of the Red Cross handled the transfer of 120 body bags containing 54 bodies. Previous exchanges of Palestinian prisoners' bodies have revealed extensive signs of abuse, with many showing indications of torture, mutilation, and execution, raising serious concerns about the treatment of detainees in Israeli custody.

For many Palestinians, the search for missing relatives has shifted from physical searches to digital identification efforts. At al-Shifa, families scroll through graphic images hoping to recognize loved ones. One man, Shadi al-Fayoumi, has been searching for his brothers missing for 10 months since they disappeared in Gaza's Tuffah neighborhood while seeking food and water during last year's famine. Israeli forces hand over the bodies with little regard for human dignity, leaving families with not only grief but unanswered questions about how their relatives died and how long they were held.