Israel 'withholding 766 bodies' of identified Palestinians
Israeli authorities are withholding the bodies of at least 766 identified Palestinians, nearly half of whom have been held since October 2023, despite Hamas having returned the bodies of all Israeli captives.
Most were killed by Israeli forces, while 88 were prisoners who died in Israeli custody over the past two years. These include 53 detainees from Gaza, 32 from the occupied West Bank, and three Palestinian citizens of Israel.
According to Haaretz, 373 of all bodies were seized by Israeli forces or came into their possession after the 7 October attacks.
Most detainees who died in Israeli custody were held without charge or trial. Their deaths were attributed to violence by Israeli officers or to conditions of detention.
Additionally, Israel keeps the bodies of seven other prisoners who died before the genocidal war on Gaza, according to the Palestinian organisation Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center (JLAC).
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The centre reports that there remains an unknown number of Palestinian bodies withheld and buried in Israel who were killed in 1967 and the following years.
Another 10 bodies of identified foreign nationals are also withheld by Israel.
Haaretz reported that 520 of all identified bodies are being held in morgues at military facilities, while the remaining approximately 256 are buried in what Palestinians refer to as “cemeteries of numbers”, marked only by numerical identifiers.
These cemeteries include Palestinians and other Arabs buried there, with some graves dating back as far as 1948.
Years-long policy
Israel has long maintained a policy of withholding the bodies of Palestinians. Israeli forces routinely kill Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip and seize their bodies.
Many families of Palestinians who were killed and whose bodies were seized by Israeli forces had pinned their hopes on the agreement between Israel and Hamas in October to exchange both dead and living prisoners and to end the war on Gaza.
However, Israel only returned the bodies of 360 Palestinians to Gaza as part of the agreement.
According to findings by JLAC, the identities of around 100 of the bodies were confirmed, while the remainder were buried as unidentified individuals.
Sources speaking to Middle East Eye previously indicated that bodies returned by Israel showed signs of torture, execution and being run over by tanks.
Several bodies bore signs of severe abuse, including strangulation marks, broken bones and mutilation. Some were found with their hands and feet bound and their eyes blindfolded. Others were missing limbs.
Several human rights groups have repeatedly condemned Israel’s long-standing policy of withholding Palestinian bodies, calling for their immediate release and return to families.
Under Israeli law, the retention of Palestinian bodies is permitted and has been implemented across the occupied Palestinian territory.
Although this practice was previously considered illegal, a 2018 amendment to the Israeli Counterterrorism Law - later upheld by the Israeli Supreme Court - authorised the state to withhold the bodies of Palestinians deemed to have committed acts of violence.
However, international humanitarian law explicitly prohibits the withholding of bodies. It states that the dead must be treated with dignity, "honourably buried" and "if possible according to the rites of the religion to which they belonged".
Article 130 of the Fourth Geneva Convention further stipulates that the graves of the deceased must be "respected, properly maintained, and marked in such a way that they can always be recognised."
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