Returned Palestinian bodies show signs of torture and execution as Western media silence persists


MEMO
October 16, 2025 

The Israeli army hands over the bodies of Palestinians to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which were later transferred to Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, Gaza, for identification, where families gathered to recognize the remains of their relatives on October 15, 2025. [Doaa Albaz – Anadolu Agency


Doctors in Gaza have accused Israel of torturing and executing Palestinians after receiving the mutilated remains of 90 people as part of a ceasefire deal. Forty-five of the bodies were returned this week to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, where medics reported that nearly all of them had been blindfolded, had their hands and legs bound, and bore signs of gunshot wounds between the eyes—indicating summary executions.

“Almost all of them had been blindfolded, and had gunshots between the eyes. Almost all of them had been executed,” said Dr Ahmed Al-Farra, head of the paediatrics department at Nasser Hospital. He added that the bodies also showed signs of extensive beatings and post-mortem abuse.

The transfer of the remains was arranged via the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which has overseen the reciprocal return of Israeli and Palestinian dead as part of the US-brokered truce. While Hamas handed over the remains of several Israeli hostages, Israel returned two batches of 45 Palestinian bodies, which had been kept in refrigeration units in undisclosed locations.

According to Nasser Hospital officials, Israel provided no names for the deceased, only numbered labels. Gaza’s bombed-out medical infrastructure currently lacks DNA capabilities, and families are being asked to help identify the remains of their loved ones.

READ: Killing paramedics is part of Israel’s war on the Palestinian healthcare system

This is not the first time Israel has been accused of killing Palestinians execution-style. In March, 15 medics and rescue workers were found in a shallow grave, all with bound limbs and gunshot wounds to the head. That massacre is also being examined as part of the International Criminal Court’s ongoing war crimes probe.

Yet despite mounting evidence of systematic extrajudicial killings, torture and desecration of Palestinian bodies, Western media have largely remained silent. Critics have pointed out that when Palestinians are mentioned at all, it is often only to serve as a backdrop to narratives that humanise the very Israeli soldiers accused of carrying out massacres—casting them as psychologically scarred participants in war crimes.

A CNN underlined the double standard. Headlined “Haunted by what they’ve seen and done, Israeli soldiers battle trauma and suicide”, it portrays the same soldiers accused of mass killings as broken men struggling to cope. The piece includes emotional accounts of “sleepless nights,” “flashbacks,” and “overwhelming guilt,” but makes no mention of the suffering inflicted on Palestinians. Instead, readers are asked to empathise with troops who described “putting their emotions in boxes,” even as mounting evidence points to war crimes.