
Press Statement No. (1011) Issued by the Government Media Office:
The Israeli occupation continues to withhold the bodies of hundreds of Palestinian martyrs and has returned 165 bodies, most of whom were subjected to torture and field executions.
Today, we stand in reverence, pride, and deep respect for the martyrs of our great Palestinian people. We bow in honor of the civil defense personnel, the medical teams, the journalists and media crews, and our steadfast Palestinian people. We announce the organization of this major national event, during which we will bury the bodies of 54 martyrs whose remains were withheld by the Israeli occupation during its genocidal war against the Gaza Strip. The returned bodies show clear signs of brutal torture, field execution, and physical liquidation — crimes that add to the long record of war crimes and blatant violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention and international humanitarian law.
The bodies to be buried today were difficult to identify and have reached the legally designated period. After full documentation of the bodies and their belongings — numbering 54 — they will be buried in a cemetery in the Deir al-Balah area, in numbered and recorded graves.
During this event, the funeral prayer will be performed over the martyrs’ bodies, led by Sheikh Ihsan Ashour, Mufti of Khan Younis Governorate, followed by the funeral procession to the mass grave in Deir al-Balah City, with broad official and public participation. The burial will be conducted with official ceremonies, under the supervision of specialized committees, followed by the recitation of Surat Al-Fatiha and prayers for the noble martyrs who are more honorable than all of us.
Official examinations and field observations documented by governmental and human rights bodies have confirmed that the occupation committed heinous violations against the martyrs, including:
• Rope marks and signs of hanging on the necks of many of the martyrs’ bodies.
• Direct gunshots from very close range, indicating deliberate field executions.
• Hands and feet tied with plastic restraints prior to execution.
• Blindfolded eyes and physical evidence suggesting the victims were detained before being executed.
• Bodies crushed under the tracks of Israeli occupation tanks.
• Signs of torture, burns, fractures, and deep wounds confirming the use of brutal methods against detainees.
These documented crimes constitute conclusive evidence of extrajudicial executions and represent a grave violation of all humanitarian norms and international conventions. We strongly condemn this horrific and deliberate crime committed by the Israeli occupation and hold it — along with all states complicit in the ongoing genocide — fully responsible for these atrocious acts.
We call upon the international community, the International Criminal Court, and all international judicial, legal, and human rights organizations to immediately form an independent international investigation committee and to prosecute the leaders of the Israeli occupation before the ICC for war crimes, genocide, and ethnic cleansing against our Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.
We also urge all national and international media outlets to provide extensive and in-depth coverage of this major national event, to document the scene of the mass burial, expose the scale of the crime to the world, and support Palestinian efforts to criminalize and legally prosecute the occupation.

Government Media Office

Gaza Strip – Palestine

Wednesday, October 22, 2025
Mike