Erekat urges unconditional handover of Palestinian martyrs' bodies

Secretary of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee Saeb Erekat urged on Sunday the US, UN, EU and Russia to get Israel to unconditionally hand over all bodies of Palestinian martyrs who were killed at the hands of Israeli forces.

Israel should make a list of all bodies that have been withheld by the occupation authorities and should hand them over to their families so that they can lie in peace, he said in official messages sent to the above all countries and international bodies.

Since 1967, Israel has been withholding 268 Palestinian bodies in a cemetery of numbers. As recently as 2014, the bodies of 19 Palestinians killed in the 2014 offensive against Gaza Strip were also held in addition to 20 bodies since October of 2015, including bodies of 4 babies, Erekat said. 

Under the international humanitarian law, Israel, as an occupying force, should respect rights of dead people and should allow a dignified burial.

Erekat blamed Israel's illegal actions and flagrant violations of international law for the current volatile situation in the territories as it is depriving Palestinians from their basic rights, including their right to bury their sons. 

On June 9, Israel’s minister of military affairs ordered the bodies of Palestinians killed at the hands of Israeli troops during stabbing and car ramming attacks not to be returned for burial.

Israel buries Palestinians killed in attacks against Israel in graves marked with small metal plates, each carrying a number.

In many cases, the conditions that the buried bodies are in- such as poorly installed metal plates that become dislodged in heavy storms- lead to the loss of the only remaining means of identification and other crucial information such as the date they died.

Source: MENA