Nasser Hospital in Gaza announced that it had received the first 45 Palestinian bodies held by the Israeli army after October 7, 2023, according to the Associated Press.

The corpses were delivered by the Red Cross International Committee under the Israeli and Hamas truce agreement, while the hospital said a total of 450 corpses are expected to be returned to Gaza by Israel.

According to the hospital, some corpses carry signs of torture and that their hands were tied, without being clear when or how prisoners died.

On Monday, the last 20 living hostages surrendered to Israel in exchange for 1,808 Palestinian prisoners, while Hamas has so far returned four bodies from the other dead hostages.

Palestinians released in previous exchanges have denounced beatings, food and medical care in Israeli prisons. A UN report in 2024 recorded that, after October 7, 2023, thousands of Palestinians are arbitrarily and unacceptable, often tied, with tied eyes, no food, water, sleep or medical care, while being tortured or degraded.

Israel argues that it keeps international and domestic legal standards for the treatment of prisoners and that any violations are being investigated. However, far-right Minister of National Security Italmar Ben-Gvir, responsible for prisons, has publicly reiterated that it is seeking to make the Palestinian detention conditions as cruel as possible, while adhering to “the letter of the law”.