IDF Spokesman: "The Transfer of Bodies from Gaza - Part of an Effort to Loc

The IDF spokesman responded (Tuesday) to Srugim's question about the Palestinian reports surrounding the digging of 80 graves in Rafah and the transfer of a similar number of Palestinian bodies to the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom crossing, "Inspecting the bodies coming from Gaza is a routine operation."

"The bodies are being transported to Israel as part of an effort to locate abductees"

In response to Srugim's question, the IDF spokesman stated that "During the war, bodies are transported to Israel for an identification procedure as part of the effort to locate the kidnapped and missing. The difficulties in identifying the murdered make it necessary to transfer the bodies to Israel for forensic identification."

According to him, "the process of examining the bodies coming from the Gaza Strip is a routine analysis that complies with accepted forensic standards, which rules out their identification as Israeli abductees. Israel is careful to respect the personal integrity of the dead bodies."

Brigadier General Hagari on the question of the bodies (Video: YouTube page of IDF Spokesman Updates)

During last week's statement, Brigadier General Daniel Hagari stated, "We certainly do not return prisoners and terrorists and we captured many hundreds of them even on October 7 and during the fighting, many hundreds were interrogated and are still being interrogated within the State of Israel and are prisoners of war." He also added that it is necessary to separate between civilian population and prisoners of war, "this is what we will continue to do."