The revelation was made by a Israeli Defence Forces spokesperson while answering a query by National Broadcasting Corporation regarding claims by Palestinians that graves in the Gaza strip had been dug up.

The IDF said that digging up graves and exhuming bodies was part of Israel’s search for hostages’ bodies.

“When critical intelligence or operational information is received, the IDF conducts precise hostage rescue operations in the specific locations where information indicates that the bodies of hostages may be located,” the IDF said in the statement to the NBC.

The IDF statement also added that the bodies from the dug up graves are taken to an ‘alternative’ location for an identification process.

It claimed that the process ‘ensures optimal professional conditions and respect for the deceased’.

“Bodies determined not be those of hostages are returned with dignity and respect,” the statement added.

In typical fashion, the IDF said that Hamas was to blame for the matter as the graves would not have to be dug up if no hostages had been taken.

However, AlJazeera reported that Palestinian bodies have been left in the soil after thr graves were dug up and there were countless visuals as evidence.

Gaza health authorities said on Thursday the war’s death toll had risen to 24,620 with many more feared buried under the rubble. More than 170 were killed in the past 24 hours. Israel claims it has killed 9,000 Hamas fighters.