Hamas receives list of nearly 1,500 Gazans held by Israel

Hamas has received a list of 1,468 Palestinian detainees taken by Israel from Gaza since October 2023, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Media Office said on Sunday.

In a press statement, the office noted that the names have been verified and reviewed by the relevant authorities, with 11 names still being investigated.

The office accused Israel of delaying the release of the list, as well as manipulating a number of names on it, highlighting that Israel continues to conceal the true number of Palestinians held in its detention centres.

The office urged the mediators to put pressure on Tel Aviv to reveal how many Palestinians it is holding, and to guarantee their welfare, rights, and to stop the abuses against them.

Since launching its latest war on Gaza in October 2023, Israel has carried out mass arrests across Gaza, keeping the families of hundreds of detainees in the dark about their relatives' condition. Many families do not know whether their detained relatives are still alive, with Israel refusing to disclose full details.

Palestinian detainees released from Israeli captivity have described the dire conditions they were held in, including being sexually abused, beaten, and starved by Israeli forces and prison guards.

The release of the list comes as efforts to implement the US-brokered ceasefire in Gaza continue. As part of the deal, Hamas released 20 living Israeli captives and has transferred 27 out of 28 bodies of deceased captives to Israel. For its part, Israel released thousands of Palestinian detainees, as well as the bodies of Palestinians it had retained.

Many of the bodies returned by Israel showed signs of torture, including hands and necks being bound, and some bodies with organs missing, according to Palestinian medics.