Report: Israel withholding 1,700 Palestinian bodies for future exchange deals

Israel is withholding the bodies of about 1,700 Palestinians for potential use in future exchange deals, despite no Israeli captive being held by Hamas, according to Haaretz.

The daily indicated that the figure of Palestinian bodies held by Israel was increased during recent discussions between top Israeli leaders.

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.

Several human rights groups have repeatedly condemned 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 and has been implemented across the occupied Palestinian territory.

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".