By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

Israel is withholding the bodies of at least 799 identified Palestinians, while reports indicate some 1,700 bodies may remain in Israeli custody.

Key Developments

• Palestinian organizations say Israel currently withholds the bodies of 799 identified Palestinians, including 81 children and ten women.
• Of those, 256 are held in so-called “cemeteries of numbers,” while 99 belonged to Palestinian detainees.
• Israeli media reports cited by the organizations suggest approximately 1,700 Palestinian bodies may be held by Israel, with many yet to be identified.

Israel is withholding the bodies of at least 799 identified Palestinians, including dozens of children, as Palestinian organizations warn that the true number of bodies in Israeli custody could be substantially higher.

The National Campaign for the Retrieval of Palestinian Bodies and Palestinian prisoners’ organizations released the figures on Wednesday, ahead of the Palestinian National Day for the Retrieval of Martyrs’ Bodies.

According to their statement, Israeli media reports indicate that approximately 1,700 Palestinian bodies may currently be held by Israel, although the identities of many remain unknown.

Of the 799 identified Palestinians documented by the organizations, 256 are being held in so-called “cemeteries of numbers,” 99 are Palestinians who had been detained by Israel, 81 are children under 18, and ten are women.

The latest identified Palestinian whose body was withheld is Fathi Khazem, known as Abu Raad, who was killed by Israeli forces during a raid on his home in Jenin on August 21.

‘Suspended Mourning’

The Palestinian organizations described Israel’s withholding of bodies as a decades-long policy of control and punishment that extends beyond death.

Families are left in what the groups described as a state of “suspended mourning”, unable to bury their relatives, perform funeral rites or obtain the closure associated with knowing where their loved ones have been laid to rest.

According to the statement, even when Israel returns bodies, families can face restrictions on funerals, including requirements that burials take place at night, limitations on the number of mourners, financial guarantees and heavy Israeli security presence.

The organizations argued that such measures transform burial itself into another mechanism of control.

930 Bodies Returned from Gaza

The groups also raised concerns over the treatment of bodies taken from Gaza.

According to the National Campaign’s documentation, 930 bodies from the Gaza Strip have been returned after being held by Israel.

The organizations called for an independent investigation into the circumstances in which the bodies were held and treated, including reports of violations of the dignity and integrity of the dead.

They also demanded an investigation into reports of organ removal, stressing that such claims require access to medical and forensic evidence and independent examination.

A Decades-Long Policy

Israel’s withholding of Palestinian bodies stretches back decades.

According to the campaign, thousands of Palestinians have been buried since 1967 in what is called “cemeteries of numbers” – burial sites where bodies are identified by numbers rather than names and where families have limited or no information about their relatives.

The practice was temporarily restricted in 2004 but expanded again beginning in 2015, the organizations said.

In 2017, the Israeli Supreme Court initially ruled that there was insufficient legal authority for withholding bodies, while delaying implementation to allow the government to establish a legal basis for the practice.

Israel subsequently expanded the legal framework permitting authorities to retain Palestinian bodies, including for what Israeli authorities describe as bargaining purposes.

Thousands Still Missing

The documented figure of 799, the organizations stressed, should not be considered final.

Thousands of Palestinians remain missing, particularly in Gaza, where the scale of destruction, mass killings, forced disappearance and difficulties accessing devastated areas have complicated efforts to establish the fate of victims.

The groups said the situation requires urgent international action to identify the dead, determine the circumstances of their deaths and establish where their bodies are being held.

For Palestinian families, they said, every unidentified or withheld body means that the consequences of the killing continue long after death.

“Every body whose fate remains unknown means that the crime has not been closed,” the organizations said, adding that its effects continue “in the life of a family waiting for truth and justice.”

They called for the immediate return of all withheld Palestinian bodies, disclosure of the fate of the missing and independent investigations into the circumstances surrounding deaths and the treatment of bodies in Israeli custody.

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(QNN, PC)