The handcuffed, naked and dismembered bodies of three Palestinian men, recently freed by Israel, were discovered near Gaza's border with Israel.

According to an uncle of one of the men and a witness, they had been attacked by Israeli forces shortly after their release.

Abdel Hadi Ghabayen, the uncle of detainee Kamel Ghabayen, began searching for his nephew at 5 a.m. Sunday, following being taken by Israeli forces the previous day.

"I found him left on the ground along with the other two martyrs. They were without clothes, and their hands had plastic cuffs put on them by the Israeli army," Ghabayen said.

The dismembered bodies were found near the Israeli border fence Sunday in the vicinity of the Karam Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing in southern Gaza, he said.

In response to Reuters requests for comment, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said: "From a review conducted, the IDF is unfamiliar with an incident in which the suspects were killed by IDF fire."

Abdel Hadi Ghabayen said one of the men had lost a leg and his body was "in pieces" after an attack by Israeli forces carried out shortly after their release.

Abdel Hadi Ghabayen said that when he tried to recover the man's dismembered leg, the Israelis "started shooting at me, so I stopped." He later carried the bodies of the three on his truck to Nasser Hospital in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.

The three – Kamel Ghabayen, Mohammed Awad Ramadan Abu Hejazi and Ramadan Awad Ramadan Abu Hejazi – were among several Palestinians detained Saturday and held for questioning, according to one of the men, Mahmoud Abu Taha.

Abu Taha said they were shot shortly after their release.

"We reached Karkar Street (in Gaza). After 10 minutes of being there, we found a bomb thrown at the people with me. Thank God I was at the front. The bomb hit six or seven people who were detained with us. Thank God I am alive," he said.

More than 38,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed by Israel's genocidal military offensive since Oct. 7, in response to Hamas' incursion on southern Israel.