Hamas urges Red Cross to clarify fate of 1000s of abducted Palestinians

The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has called upon the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to clarify the fate of thousands of abducted Palestinians languishing in Israeli prisons and subjected to various forms of violence and torture.

In a statement on Friday, Hamas roundly slammed the Tel Aviv regime for sending 88 unidentifiable bodies of Palestinians to Gaza without prior coordination or information about their identities.

The Gaza-based group said the bodies brought into Gaza are mostly decomposed, with no data about the victims’ names, time of death and the location they were taken from.

“The bodies were piled up in trucks in a way that desecrates their dignity. Such behavior is in flagrant violation of international and humanitarian laws, and infringes upon the right of the martyrs' families to identify their loved ones and bury them in an honorable manner,” the statement read.

It also violates the right of the families of the missing to learn of fate of their children, who have been disappeared, Hamas noted.

“We call on the international community and humanitarian institutions, foremost among them the International Committee of the Red Cross, to condemn this repeated criminal behavior by the occupying regime and to take action to stop its ongoing violations against our Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.

“We also demand the revelation of the fate of the thousands of abductees in its prisons, who are subjected to the most horrific sadistic practices, including torture, abuse, and systematic killing,” the Palestinian resistance group pointed out.

Gaza authorities lash out at Israel for sending 88 unidentifiable bodies

The decomposed bodies were reportedly sent from Israel without prior coordination or information about their identities.

Gaza’s Government Media Office has called the shipment of unidentifiable bodies an “inhumane and criminal move.”

Health officials at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis refused to receive the bodies and bury them, urging the ICRC to seek details from Israel.

“The health ministry halted the procedures to receive the container (carrying the bodies) until the completion of the full data and information about those bodies so their relatives can identify them,” the ministry said in a statement.

The Red Cross said it wasn't involved in the transfer process.

“We reiterate that all families have the right to receive news about their loved ones and bury them respectfully and in line with their traditions,” said a statement issued by the ICRC.

Under International Humanitarian Law, those who have died during an armed conflict must be handled with dignity and be properly managed. The law requires that they be searched for, collected and evacuated, which helps ensure that people do not go missing, the ICRC statement added.

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