Gazan Authorities Host ICRC Delegation, Discuss Procedures of Handing Over Palestinian and Israeli Bodies
Gaza (Quds News Network)- Gaza’s Government Media Office hosted a delegation from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), where both sides discussed several humanitarian and legal issues concerning the rights of the Palestinian people amid Israel’s ongoing violations.
The delegation was received by Dr. Ismail Al-Thawabta, Director-General of the Government Media Office, who raised several crucial questions widely discussed by the Palestinian public.
These included the procedures for receiving the bodies of Israeli captives held by the Palestinian resistance in a “humane and dignified manner,” while the bodies of Palestinian martyrs held by the Israeli occupation “are returned in inhuman and brutal ways by the Israeli army.”
The Office also inquired about the ICRC’s position on the refusal to return Palestinian martyrs’ bodies, which the occupation “returns in plastic bags, a practice that contradicts international standards.”
The discussion also addressed the issue of coordinating for employees and engineers in civilian institutions, such as communications engineers, who “were then targeted and killed in Israeli attacks and killed.” The Office requested clarification on the protection mechanisms in such situations.
Furthermore, the Office asked why the Israeli occupation is “not named as the perpetrator in ICRC statements and the limited disclosure of violations.”
The ICRC delegation explained that they were not responsible for many of the coordination efforts publicly announced by the media and that other international organizations also carry out these tasks. They emphasized their commitment to adhering to international principles.
“Double Standards”
Last week, the Office accused the Red Cross of “double standards” regarding the handover of the bodies of Palestinians and Israelis.
“While the Red Cross holds solemn official ceremonies when receiving the bodies of Israeli captives, it delivers the bodies of Palestinian martyrs in blue bags tossed into trucks that lack the most basic elements of human dignity,” Thawabta said on X.
“This blatant discrimination reflects double standards and exposes the international community’s failure to achieve justice and fairness!”
Comparison in Handing Over Bodies
In August 2024, Israel handed over the bodies of nearly 90 Palestinian civilians, who were abducted from morgues and graves in Gaza during the assault.
The bodies were delivered in a decomposed state, with visible skeletal remains. They were placed inside just 15 bags, with more than four Palestinians in each bag, all of them arrived in a shipping container while wrapped in blue plastic sheeting, according to Civil Defence Director Yamen Abu Suleiman.
Abu Suleiman said the Israeli occupation did not provide any information about the bodies, including their names or where they were found or taken from.
Hamas said Israel’s delivery of bodies without identities “exacerbates the suffering of the families of martyrs and the missing, who seek to know the fate of their abducted children or to bury their martyrs in a dignified manner”.
In September 2024, Israel handed over the bodies of 88 Palestinians killed in the assault. The bodies were brought into Gaza in a container loaded on a truck without also providing any information about them.
Health officials at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis refused to receive them 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.
“They must act according to the international humanitarian law and in a way that preserves the dignity of the martyrs and their families,” Thawabta told Reuters at that time.
The Red Cross claimed 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.
Gaza’s Handover
On Thursday, the resistance groups handed over the bodies of four Israeli captives to the Red Cross as part of the prisoner exchange deal under the first phase of the ceasefire agreement.
The four captives are Shiri Bibas, Ariel Bibas, Kfir Bibas, and Oded Lifshitz.
Hamas previously said Shiri Bibas and her children were killed in an Israeli air attack in November 2023. Her husband, Yarden, was released last week in the ongoing captives and prisoner exchanges.
In a statement, Hamas confirmed, “All of them were alive before the Zionist occupation aircraft deliberately bombed the locations where they were being held.”
The resistance handed over the bodies in well-made black-covered coffins with the names and pictures of each captive placed on them.
The Red Cross used white shrouds to cover the coffins and stands before putting them in vehicles
Part of the handover process of the bodies of four Israeli captives killed by the occupation in Gaza to the International Red Cross. pic.twitter.com/wpxLsXwYkl
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) February 20, 2025
