The shackled bodies of three Palestinian men freed from Israeli captivity have been found near the Gaza border with Israel. An uncle of one of the men and a witness said they were attacked by Israeli forces shortly after their release.

Abdel Hadi Ghabayen, an uncle of one of the detainees, Kamel Ghabayen, said he set out at 5 a.m. on Sunday to look for his nephew after he was arrested by Israeli forces on Saturday.

“I found him abandoned on the ground, along with the other two martyrs. They were without clothes and their hands were cuffed by the Israeli army,” Ghabayen said.

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

Reuters could not independently confirm what happened to the three men or the reason for their arrest. In response to Reuters’ requests for comment, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said: “A completed investigation shows that the IDF is not aware of any incident in which the suspects were killed by IDF fire.”

According to Abdel Hadi Ghabayen, one of the men had lost a leg and his body was “in pieces” after what he described as an attack by Israeli forces carried out shortly after their release.

Abdel Hadi Ghabayen said that when he tried to recover the man’s severed leg, the Israelis “started shooting at me, so I stopped.” He later took the bodies of the three in his truck to Nasser Hospital in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis.

The three – Kamel Ghabayen, Mohammed Awad Ramadan Abu Hejazi and Ramadan Awad Ramadan Aby Hejaz – were among Palestinians arrested on Saturday and held for questioning, said one of the men, Mahmoud Abu Taha.

Abu Taha said they came under fire shortly after their release.

“We reached Karkar Street (in Gaza). After 10 minutes of being there, we found a bomb thrown at the people near me. Thank God I was in the front. The bomb hit 6 or 7 people who were stuck with us. Thank God I am alive,” he said.

The war escalated on Oct. 7 when fighters led by Hamas, which controlled Gaza, attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures. More than 38,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli military offensive since then, according to Gaza health officials.