Israeli authorities are withholding the bodies of at least 766 identified Palestinians, nearly half of them held since October 2023, when Israel launched its genocidal war on the besieged Gaza Strip.
According to Haaretz, 520 of the bodies are being stored in military morgues, while the remaining 256 lie in so-called “cemeteries of numbers,” marked only with numerical identifiers.
The report states that at least 373 of the bodies came into Israel’s custody after October 7, 2023.
Most were killed by Israeli forces, while 88 were prisoners who died under harsh conditions in Israeli detention over the past two years. This group includes 53 detainees from Gaza, 32 from the occupied West Bank, and three Palestinian citizens of Israel.
The majority of detainees who died in Israeli custody had been held without charge or trial, with their deaths attributed either to violence by Israeli officers or to harsh conditions of detention.
In addition, Israeli authorities are withholding the bodies of seven other prisoners who died before the genocidal war in Gaza.
Reports indicate that an unknown number of Palestinian bodies, dating back to 1967 and subsequent years, remain withheld and buried in Israel.
Furthermore, Israel is also holding the bodies of 10 identified foreign nationals.
Israel has long maintained a policy of withholding the bodies of Palestinians, with its forces routinely killing Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip and seizing their remains.
Many families of those killed had pinned their hopes on the October 2025 agreement between Israel and Hamas, which aimed to exchange dead and living prisoners and bring an end to the war in Gaza.
Under the deal, Hamas returned the bodies of all Israeli captives held in Gaza, while Israel returned only 360 Palestinian bodies.
Of these, the identities of around 100 bodies were confirmed, while the remainder were buried as unidentified individuals.
Reports indicate that the bodies returned by Israel bore signs of torture, execution, and even being run over by tanks. Several showed severe abuse, including strangulation marks, broken bones, and mutilation. Some were found with hands and feet bound, eyes blindfolded, and others were missing limbs.
Several human rights organizations have repeatedly condemned Israel’s long-standing policy of withholding Palestinian bodies, calling for their immediate release and return to families.
International humanitarian law explicitly prohibits such practices, stipulating that the dead must be treated with dignity, “honorably buried,” and, where possible, according to the rites of their religion.
Article 130 of the Fourth Geneva Convention further mandates that graves must be “respected, properly maintained, and marked so they can always be identified.”
Over the past two years, Israel has systematically destroyed cemeteries in the Gaza Strip, dug up and vandalized graves, tampered with bodies, and transferred dozens of remains.
IMAGE CREDIT: Forensic experts prepare to examine Palestinian bodies returned by Israel outside a morgue at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on 30 January 2026. (Photo by AFP)
[ SOURCE: PRESS TV ]
