RESTRICTION SUMMARY: Ramallah- 25 November 2021. Palestinians protest demanding to hand over the bodies of Palestinians detained by the Israeli army, in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

0.1 SOUNDBITE (in Arabic) Adnan Rajabeh, father of Bilal Rajabeh

STORYLINE:

Israeli authorities have escalated the policy of withholding the bodies of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces or settlers, claiming that funerals of Palestinians had provided grounds for “incitement” against Israel.

Dozens of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces are still withheld in Israeli mortuaries despite calls by human rights groups on Israel to release them.

According to the Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center (JLAC), Israel held the bodies of 67 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces between 2015 and 2020. With the additional killings that took place this year, that number is likely to be higher. For their families, not being able to bury their dead means having no closure and often leads to years-long court battles.

In the past, Israel agreed to return the bodies of some slain Palestinians, when Tel Aviv was attempting to revive peace talks. The release of 90 Palestinian bodies in 2012 and 27 more in the following two years were some of the rare exceptions to the rule. Categorised by number, identifying the bodies of Palestinians is another struggle even when steps have been taken to return them.

By international law, every family has the right to receive the bodies of their loved ones regardless of if a slain Palestinian is guilty of what they’ve been accused of.

Footage by APAwire