By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

Israel’s policy “aims to punish Palestinian families and deprive them of their legitimate right to bury their children with dignity,” Hamas said.

Hamas has called on the UN and human rights groups to take serious action against Israel for its “heinous crime” of withholding the bodies of 726 Palestinians, with some having been held for decades.

“The occupation’s detention of our people’s martyrs’ bodies is a heinous Zionist crime that reveals its sadism and brutality, and we call for international action to expose the occupation and pressure it by all means to recover them,” the movement said in a statement on Wednesday to mark the National Day for the Recovery of Martyrs’ Bodies.

On the National Day for the Retrieval of Martyrs’ Bodies, #Hamas condemned the Israeli occupation’s ongoing withholdment of the bodies of 726 Palestinian martyrs, describing it as a “heinous Zionist crime” and a blatant violation of international laws and norms.

The bodies are… pic.twitter.com/DzgMQpLwPh

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) August 27, 2025

The bodies are being held in “cemeteries of numbers” and special freezers, “some for decades,” Hamas added, noting it was a “blatant violation of all international laws and norms.”

Hamas stressed that Israel has “escalated this inhumane policy” during the ongoing genocidal assault on Gaza since October 2023.

The figure of 726 “is what could be documented,” the movement said, adding that at the same time, “there are an unknown number of slain Palestinians from Gaza “whose bodies’ fates have not yet been documented, which exacerbates the scale and horror of the crime.”

‘Tampering with Bodies’

The resistance group affirmed that the “serious crimes and violations” committed by Israel against “the bodies of our martyrs” since October 7, 2023, “represent a blatant breach of all international and humanitarian laws that guarantee the rights of the dead and mandate human dignity in wars.”

It said that Israel “detaining and tampering with the bodies” is part of “the zionist system of oppression and terrorism, which aims to punish Palestinian families and deprive them of their legitimate right to bury their children with dignity.”

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Hamas stated that the Palestinian resistance “has proven the authenticity of its humanitarian, ethical, and civilized values in dealing with the bodies of enemy prisoners during the recent exchange operation.” In contrast, Israel’s “sadistic crimes” against the Palestinian people, its prisoners and “the bodies of our martyrs …confirms to the world that this is a rogue entity that warrants isolation, boycott, and prosecution.”

The movement called on the UN, human rights and humanitarian organizations to take serious action and pressure Israel in all international forums “to abolish the crime of ‘cemeteries of numbers’” and compel it to stop “the policy” of detaining Palestinian bodies.

Staggering Death Toll

Since reneging on the ceasefire on March 18, Israel has continued its bloody aerial bombardment across the Gaza Strip, killing and wounding thousands of Palestinians.

Starting on October 7, 2023, the Israeli military, with American support, launched a genocidal war against the people of Gaza. This campaign has so far resulted in the deaths of more than 62,800 Palestinians, with more than 158,000 wounded. The vast majority of the population has been displaced, and the destruction of infrastructure is unprecedented since World War II. Thousands of people are still missing.

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In addition to the military assault, the Israeli blockade has caused a man-made famine, leading to the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians—mostly children—with hundreds of thousands more at risk.

Despite widespread international condemnation, little has been done to hold Israel accountable. The nation is currently under investigation for genocide by the International Court of Justice, while accused war criminals, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, are officially wanted by the International Criminal Court.

(The Palestine Chronicle)