GAZA, (PIC)
Amidst the double standards of the international community, Israel continues to withhold the bodies of hundreds of Palestinian martyrs in what are known as “cemeteries of numbers” and morgues, in blatant violation of international laws and humanitarian principles.
Palestinians have expressed widespread outrage after several countries and international organizations commented on the return of four Israeli captives’ remains while ignoring the ongoing crimes against Palestinian martyrs. Not only does the Israeli occupation kill them, but it also desecrates their bodies after death, displaying a level of brutality without limits.
Mass graves and the theft of bodies
As the Israeli army withdrew from certain areas in Gaza, the scale of its massacres became evident. Hundreds of bodies were discovered in the streets, many burned and disfigured.
Human rights reports, particularly from the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, have revealed that Israel has buried hundreds of martyrs in mass graves, bombed and vandalized Palestinian cemeteries, and looted bodies—crimes documented in audio and video evidence.
Field reports confirm that during its March 2024 raid on Al-Shifa Medical Complex, Israeli forces ran over bodies with armored vehicles before burying them in mass graves—after stealing some of them.
These horrifying scenes have been repeated, with corpses left exposed until they decomposed, while Israeli forces prevented emergency responders from reaching them. As a result, stray animals fed on the remains, in a grotesque violation of human dignity.
The West Bank: A continuation of the same crimes
Israel’s desecration of Palestinian bodies is not limited to Gaza. Similar crimes have been documented in the West Bank.
In July 2024, an Israeli drone strike targeted three Palestinian resistance fighters in Tulkarem refugee camp. After they were killed, an Israeli military bulldozer dragged and mutilated their bodies in the streets before confiscating them.
In September 2024, in Al-Far’a refugee camp, an Israeli bulldozer lifted and dragged the body of martyr Majed Abu Zeina with its metal claw, tearing his clothes and disfiguring him in front of camp residents before Palestinian medics managed to retrieve his remains.
That same month, Israeli soldiers executed three Palestinians in Qabatiya and threw their bodies off the roof of a house.
A long history of Israeli crimes against martyrs’ bodies
These atrocities are not new, they date back to the 1948 Nakba, when Zionist militias carried out mass executions and desecrated Palestinian corpses—throwing them into wells, burying them in mass graves, and even constructing parking lots and public squares over them, as in the Tantura massacre.
For decades, Israel has held Palestinian bodies in “cemeteries of numbers”—secret burial sites where each body is assigned a number instead of a name, depriving families of the right to know their loved ones’ fate.
Investigative reports have also exposed the theft of organs from Palestinian martyrs. Many families who received their loved ones’ bodies noticed surgical marks on vital areas such as the kidneys and heart, fueling allegations that Israel harvests organs and transfers them to its hospitals and medical schools.
Additionally, Israel reportedly operates the world’s largest skin bank, which is believed to source tissue from Palestinian martyrs.
The withholding of martyrs’ bodies
The National Campaign for the Retrieval of Martyrs’ Bodies reports that Israel currently withholds 665 bodies in cemeteries of numbers and morgues.
Some of these bodies date back to the 1960s and 1970s, while the most recent include those of Al-Far’a refugee camp martyrs in the West Bank, killed in September 2024.
These figures do not account for bodies withheld from Gaza, as precise numbers remain unknown.
Systematic mutilation of martyrs’ bodies: A longstanding policy
The mutilation of Palestinian bodies, including shooting them posthumously, has long been a hallmark of Israeli violence.
Notable documented cases include the 1978 desecration of the body of Palestinian fighter Dalal Mughrabi. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak was filmed dragging her corpse in a degrading manner.
In 1993, after assassinating Palestinian resistance leader Imad Aqel, Israeli soldiers shot his lifeless body, then stabbed it multiple times in an act of sheer hatred.
During the Second Intifada in 2002, Israeli forces killed four resistance fighters in Nablus, gouged out their eyes, severed their limbs, and burned their bodies inside the apartment where they had been hiding—demonstrating a systematic brutality passed down through generations.
International double standards in handling Palestinian martyrs’ remains
While international law mandates the respectful treatment of the deceased, global institutions—particularly the International Red Cross—have been complicit in Israel’s crimes.
While the Red Cross facilitated the formal return of Israeli captives’ remains from Palestinian resistance groups, Palestinian martyrs’ bodies were handed over in blue plastic bags, stuffed into overcrowded trucks—devoid of basic human dignity.
This glaring double standard highlights how the world views the Palestinian cause with bias. Israeli soldiers’ remains are treated with full honor, while Palestinian bodies face desecration, enforced disappearance, and theft.
Crimes against martyrs’ bodies: A humanitarian issue that must not be forgotten
Decades of such atrocities, with no accountability, demand urgent international action. These heinous acts not only target Palestinians but also insult universal human values.
Unless real measures are taken to hold Israel accountable, the cycle of genocide and desecration will persist—while the world turns a blind eye, serving only its own interests and disregarding Palestinian rights entirely.
