Israel: Israel has held the remains of almost 800 Palestinians since 1967, including those of many women and children, a Palestinian watchdog group said Wednesday.
According to Anadolu Agency, the statistics were included in a joint statement released by institutions concerned with Palestinian prisoners and the Palestinian National Campaign for the Retrieval of Martyrs' Bodies and Disclosure of the Fate of the Missing, a non-governmental organization. The statement was issued on the eve of Palestine's National Day for the Recovery of the Bodies of Palestinian and Arab Martyrs.
'The issue of holding the bodies of martyrs and missing persons remains one of the most prominent cases linked to Israeli violations, as it deprives Palestinian families of knowing the fate of their loved ones, bidding them farewell and burying them,' the statement read. It added that the available information, based on reports by Israeli media, suggests that Israel continues to hold the remains of roughly 1,700 Palestinians.
According to the statement, the campaign and relevant institutions have identified 799 of those whose remains are still being held. The most recent of these was Fathi Khazem, a commander from Jenin who was killed last week by Israeli forces inside his home and whose body has not been released by Israeli authorities, it added.
The statement stressed that the figures have yet to be finalized due to difficulties in documenting the number of missing people -- especially in the besieged Gaza Strip, where thousands of people remain missing and where areas in which numerous people were killed cannot be accessed. The statement called for stepped-up efforts to recover victims' remains and determine the fate of missing Palestinians.
Last October, campaigners accused Israel of holding roughly 1,500 bodies of slain Palestinians from Gaza at the Sde Teiman military facility in southern Israel. The Israeli military continues to target Palestinians across the coastal enclave despite a ceasefire that ostensibly went into effect last October.