Bodies of 14 Palestinians handed over by Israel as part of ceasefire deal buried in central Gaza

(23 Nov 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Deir Al-Balah, Central Gaza Strip – 23 November 2025
1. Various of civil defense carrying bodies out of truck and placing them in bulldozer
2. Bulldozer carrying bodies driving toward graves
3. Various of civil defense carrying bodies and placing them in graves
4. Bodies in graves
5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ahmad Dheir, head of forensic department at Nasser Medical Complex in southern Gaza:
“Over the past two months, we have received 330 bodies of martyrs. Our rudimentary system has identified 98 of them, while the rest remain unidentified. Today, we are burying the last of these bodies, 14, from the final batch that arrived from the Israeli side on November 14, 2025.”
6. Various of signs with details of bodies in graves
7. Various of bulldozer covering bodies with sand
8. Various of Red Cross officials arriving at cemetery, monitoring process of burial
STORYLINE:
The bodies of 14 Palestinians handed over by Israel as part of the ceasefire deal were buried in central Gaza on Sunday.

Under the agreement that began on Oct. 10, for each hostage returned, Israel has released the remains of 15 Palestinians, an exchange central to the first phase of the ceasefire.

Hamas has so far returned the remains of 25 hostages to Israel and handed over 20 living hostages on Oct. 13.

Overall, the number of bodies of Palestinians received so far has reached 330, of which only 98 have been identified, according to Ahmad Dheir, head of the forensic department at the Nasser Medical Complex in southern Gaza.

“The rest remain unidentified,” Dheir said. “Today, we are burying the last of these bodies, 14, from the final batch that arrived from the Israeli side on November 14, 2025.”

Health officials in Gaza say efforts to identify the remains are hampered by a severe shortage of DNA testing kits.

The exchanges have continued even as Israel and Hamas accuse each other of violating other terms of the agreement.

The next stages of the 20-point plan call for creating an international stabilization force, forming a technocratic Palestinian government and disarming Hamas.

The fragile agreement aims to wind down a war triggered by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage.

Israel launched a sweeping military offensive in response, killing more than 69,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals, keeps detailed records that independent experts generally view as reliable.

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