[News] Israel 'withholding 766 bodies' of identified Palestinians

[Anti-Imperialist News]

middleeasteye.net
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-continues-withhold-766-bodies-identified-palestinians>
Israel 'withholding 766 bodies' of identified Palestinians
Mera Aladam
February 2, 2026
------------------------------

Haaretz reports that at least 373 of the bodies came into Israel's
possession since 7 October 2023
[image: Forensic experts prepare to examine the bodies of Palestinians
returned by Israel outside a morgue at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on 30
January, 2026 (AFP/Omar al-Qattaa)]

Forensic experts prepare to examine the bodies of Palestinians returned by
Israel outside a morgue at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on 30 January,
2026 (AFP/Omar al-Qattaa)

Published date: 2 February 2026 12:52 GMT | Last update: 4 hours 25 mins ago


Israeli <https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/israel> authorities are
withholding the bodies of at least 766 identified Palestinians
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/palestine>, 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 <https://www.middleeasteye.net/topics/palestine-48>.

According to Haaretz
<https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2026-02-01/ty-article/.premium/israel-is-in-possession-of-776-bodies-of-identified-palestinians-other-nationals/0000019c-1965-d3f5-a5fd-d96d1d1e0000>,
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).

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.

<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/palestinian-bodies-returned-israel-signs-torture-incisions>

Severed fingers and incisions: Bodies returned by Israel shock Gaza families

Read More »
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/palestinian-bodies-returned-israel-signs-torture-incisions>

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
<https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/09/14/israel-release-body-slain-palestinian>
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
<https://www.alhaq.org/advocacy/15175.html> and has been implemented across
the occupied Palestinian territory.

Although this practice was previously considered illegal
<https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2017/8/10/why-does-israel-keep-the-bodies-of-palestinians>,
a 2018 amendment <https://www.alhaq.org/advocacy/15175.html> 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
<https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/ihl-treaties/gciv-1949/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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