Israeli occupation authorities decided to return the bodies of 11 Palestinians from the West Bank killed by the Israeli army earlier this year the Palestinian National Committee for Retrieving Bodies of Martyrs revealed.
Coordinator for the committee Amin Bayad told Quds Press that the committee was informed that the bodies of 11 slain Palestinians will be handed over to their families on Friday including seven from al-Khalil.
According to Palestinian figures Israeli authorities continue to hold the bodies of 20 Palestinians.
Earlier last week the IOA handed over to the Palestinian Red Crescent the bodies of seven Palestinians killed by Israeli gunfire.
Last year the Israeli government approved measures that allowed army forces to hold the bodies of Palestinians killed during alleged attacks arguing that their funerals serve to “glorify violence.”
A joint statement released by Addameer and Israeli minority rights group Adalah in March condemned Israel’s practice of withholding bodies as “a severe violation of international humanitarian law as well as international human rights law including violations of the right to dignity freedom of religion and the right to practice culture.”
The statement said it appeared “many” of the Palestinians whose bodies Israel was holding had been “extrajudicially executed by Israeli forces during alleged attacks against Israelis despite posing no danger.”
