ISLAMABAD: Over 69,000 Palestinians have been killed in two years of Israeli military aggression, Gaza health officials reported Saturday, as the latest body exchanges took place under a fragile ceasefire.
Ahmed Dheir, director of forensic medicine at Nasser Hospital, Khan Younis, said 300 bodies have been returned so far, with only 89 identified. “We do not have sufficient resources or the DNA to match them with the martyrs’ families,” Dheir said, adding that unidentified bodies will be buried in batches.
Families continue to search among the remains. One mother said, “I always come here. I have not lost hope. I am still waiting for him,” highlighting the enduring anguish across Gaza.
Gaza’s Health Ministry confirmed that 241 Palestinians were killed since the ceasefire began on October 10, with a total of 69,169 killed since the war started. The ministry noted that additional bodies continue to be recovered from rubble.
Meanwhile, Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian farmers, medics, journalists, and activists in the occupied West Bank during the olive harvest. Eleven people were injured in Beita alone.
Jonathan Pollak, an activist caught in the attack, described the violence:
“It’s a pattern we see every day. This is just one finger in the iron fist of Israeli policy aiming to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from their land,” he told the Associated Press.
Palestinian paramedics also reported another settler assault in Burin, injuring four international activists and a 57-year-old man. Rights groups say arrests for settler violence are rare, with prosecutions even rarer.
The ongoing violence underscores the fragile state of the ceasefire, as countless Palestinians remain missing, families search for loved ones, and settler aggression continues unchecked.
With additional inputs from AFP
