Red Cross did not receive unidentified bodies from Israel, but sent via truck

A video clip of a group of bodies has spread on social media, with the claim that the Red Cross handed them over to the Ministry of Health. The video clip was accompanied by the following text: “The bodies of more than 80 unidentified martyrs from the Gaza Strip are still in a commercial container in front of Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis since yesterday. The Red Cross received them from the Israeli occupation, and the Ministry of Health in Gaza refuses to receive them from the Red Cross due to the lack of information about them”.

Kashif verified the claim and found it to be inaccurate, as the International Committee of the Red Cross did not receive the bodies from the Israeli occupation and did not participate in this process. The video clip was published by journalist Hassan Aslih on his Telegram channel, accompanied by the following text: “The martyrs have not been buried yet – the Ministry of Health has suspended the procedures for receiving the bodies of 88 martyrs from the Israeli occupation until their data is completed.” Aslih confirmed to Kashif Monitor that the Red Cross did not receive the bodies, but rather a truck driver did. 

Kashif’s team also contacted Iyad Qudaih, the Director of Public Relations and Media at the Ministry of Health in Gaza, who confirmed that the bodies did not arrive at the complex via the Red Cross, but rather via a truck. He added that the Ministry of Health in Gaza tried to involve the International Committee of the Red Cross to complete the coordination process with the Israeli occupation to obtain information about the bodies, through which the identities of their owners could be reached, but the committee apologized for not complying with the protocol in effect in such cases.

Mohammed Hamayel, spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross, told Kashif that “the Red Cross Committee did not participate in any stage of transferring the bodies from Israel to Nasser Medical Complex”.

He added that the committee stresses the need to “treat those who died during an armed conflict with dignity and manage them properly under international humanitarian law,” explaining that “the law requires that they be searched for, collected, and evacuated, which helps ensure that people do not disappear”. 

Hamayel said, “The International Committee of the Red Cross is ready to facilitate the transfer of the deceased as part of its role as a neutral humanitarian intermediary if the parties to the conflict reach a prior agreement and in consultation with the International Committee of the Red Cross.” 

The Ministry of Health in Gaza clarified in a statement on Thursday 26 September 2024, that the Israeli occupation sent a container on Wednesday, containing 88 bodies without any data or information that could be used to identify the bodies. It added that a specialized committee was formed to deal with the bodies in a manner befitting them, and to receive them today in preparation for their burial.