Israel Supreme Court rejects request to release bodies of accused terrorists for burial News
Israel Supreme Court rejects request to release bodies of accused terrorists for burial

The Supreme Court of Israel on Sunday unanimously dismissed six petitions demanding the remains of Palestinian citizens of Israel accused of terrorism filed by their families.

Five of the petitions were filed by Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, on behalf of the families, including that of Walid Daqqa, a Palestinian citizen of Israel who had been serving a life sentence for his alleged involvement in the kidnapping and murder of Israeli soldier Moshe Tamam in 1984. Daqqa passed away on April 7, 2024 after a prolonged battle with cancer. Adalah contended that the state’s practice of withholding Daqqa and other suspects’ bodies infringed upon the families’ rights to dignity and proper burial.

The Supreme Court panel, led by Justice David Mintz and joined by Justices Alex Stein and Gila Canfy Steinitz affirmed that, since Israel’s Political-Security Cabinet determined the remains in question might be necessary for negotiations related to the return of Israelis taken hostage by Hamas, it lacked the jurisdiction to intervene in this matter. The ruling, which cited Regulation 133(3) of the Defense Regulations (Emergency), noted that the regulation permits the temporary burial and retention of terrorist bodies for security purposes.

Adalah Attorney Nareman Shehadeh-Zoabi denounced the Supreme Court’s decision, asserting that it “endorses the state’s exploitation of deceased Palestinians for security and political leverage, violating the rights and dignity of the deceased and their families.” Article 34 of Protocol I of the Geneva Conventions, to which Palestine is a party but Israel is not, mandates the respectful handling and return of remains to the families of individuals who die due to occupation or hostilities. Although the exact number of bodies held by Israel since 1967 is unclear, it is estimated that between 1991 and 2008, Israel returned 405 bodies in exchange for its own soldiers’ remains.

This decision comes amid rising tensions in the region. On Saturday, Hamas released a propaganda video featuring 19-year-old Liri Albag, one of five female Israeli Defense Forces soldiers abducted from their IDF base. The release provoked widespread outrage and marked the third instance of hostage footage published by Hamas. Prior to this, on November 9, 2023, a video showed two Israeli hostages, including a child, pleading for their release. Human Rights Watch has previously condemned the practice of taking hostages and releasing videos of them, characterizing it as inhumane treatment and a war crime under international law.

Furthermore, it is estimated that 96 of the 251 hostages taken by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including at least 34 confirmed dead by the IDF, along with two Israeli civilians who entered the Gaza Strip in 2014 and 2015 as well as the remains of two IDF soldiers killed in 2014.