The Israeli occupation authorities continue to refuse to release the bodies of Palestinian martyrs who were killed by the Israeli army as a form of collective punishment inflicted on grieving families.
The detention of the bodies falls within the policy of collective punishment exercised by the Israeli occupation authorities against the Palestinian people.
In this regard member of the Committee of the Families of Martyrs whose bodies are being held in Israeli morgues Sheikh Bassam Hammad called for strong action to release the bodies of the martyrs held by the Israeli occupation authorities.
Prior to his detention last night Hammad said that the issue of the martyrs’ detained bodies must be a top priority for the Palestinian people.
“We will continue to resist the occupation until the bodies of the martyrs are released.”
For his part director of the Center for Media and Human Rights &ldquoShams&rdquo Dr. Omar Rahal said that the measure has gone beyond the political and legal dimensions.
Rahhal charged that the occupying state should put more pressure on the families of the martyrs as part of its collective punishment policy.
The Israeli policy of withholding Palestinians’ bodies is a flagrant violation of international humanitarian laws and norms mainly the International Covenant against Torture.
The practice of withholding the bodies of Palestinians killed by the Israeli army has been repeatedly challenged by human rights organizations especially since the Fourth Geneva Convention requires that parties to the conflict facilitate inquiries by persons looking for family members dispersed or killed by the conflict.
The number of Palestinian martyrs whose bodies remain in Israeli morgues amounts to 390 including 14 prisoners. 132 of whom have been held since 2015.
According to Palestinian estimates Israel has been holding the bodies of dozens of Palestinian martyrs in Israeli morgues while dozens more are withheld at the infamous “cemeteries of numbers”.
In 2019 the Israeli Supreme Court approved the continued use of Palestinian martyrs’ bodies as bargaining chips for future negotiations on prisoner swap deals with Palestinians.
