This is how the occupation turned the bodies of Palestinians into a tool for pressure and bargaining

The Israeli occupation authorities’ admission of holding the body of a Palestinian detainee from the Gaza Strip who died in custody has brought renewed attention to the issue of withholding bodies and enforced disappearances. Human rights groups accuse the occupation of using the bodies of Palestinians as a tool for political pressure and bargaining, denying their families the right to know their fate or to bury them with dignity.

A report in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz revealed that the army is holding the body of a detainee who died in a detention center near the Beit Hanoun/Erez crossing. Rami Abdu, director of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, confirmed that this admission is not new, but rather a belated acknowledgment of a policy documented by human rights organizations since the early months of the war.

Abdu explained that the Monitor has documented the withholding of the bodies of Palestinians killed since October 7, 2023, in addition to the exhumation and detention of bodies from graves. He noted that hundreds of families remain unaware of the fate of their loved ones, not knowing whether they died under rubble, in prison, or if their bodies are still being held, according to Quds Press. He added that the occupation’s withholding of bodies is not limited to the humanitarian aspect, but extends to using them in negotiations concerning the issue of prisoners and missing persons. He considered this a blatant violation of international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions, which obligate parties to a conflict to respect the bodies of the dead and hand them over to their families without delay or bargaining.

The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor considered the use of bodies as bargaining chips to be a form of hostage-taking, emphasizing that the occupation not only deprives Palestinians of their lives, but also deprives their families of knowing their fate, recovering their bodies, and burying them according to religious and humanitarian rites.