Since 1 October 2015, Israel killed 70 Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel,^[1] of which 44 were killed in alleged attacks against Israelis. This is a direct result of Israel’s use of excessive and lethal force against Palestinians. This has revealed an Israeli trend of using lethal force to kill Palestinians from close proximity even in situations where other means are possible to control and subdue the alleged attacker.^[2] According to international principles, the use of lethal force is only permitted “when strictly unavoidable in order to protect life”^[3] and its use must aim to preserve human life. The manner in which many Palestinians were killed indicates that the killings may amount to unlawful killings.

Below is a list of the Palestinians whose bodies still remain in the custody of the IOF. The list includes the bodies of 10 Palestinians from Jerusalem, 13 from Hebron (including a 73-year-old woman) and a child from Jenin.

Holding the bodies of the deceased is not a new practice by Israel; it has been used previously to “deter other Palestinians from carrying out attacks” or as “bargaining chips” for prisoner exchanges or exchanges of Israeli soldiers bodies.^[4] Instead of handing over the bodies, Israel buries the bodies of Palestinians in ‘cemeteries of numbers’. Bodies of Palestinians are buried in secret graveyards, where graves are marked with numbers on small metal plates rather than with their names.

By retaining the bodies of those killed, Israel is directly violating its obligations under international law. Under customary international humanitarian law, parties of armed conflict must respect the dead.^[5] An obligation to return remains of the deceased and the personal effects of the dead is set forth in the Geneva Conventions^[6] and is reiterated by Additional Protocol I (AP I). This includes collecting, evacuating and burying the deceased. Under the provisions of Article 130 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, the deceased must be “honourably buried, if possible according to the rites of the religion to which they belonged, and that their graves are respected, properly maintained, and marked in such a way that they can always be recognized”. The families of the deceased must also be notified. According to Article 32 of AP I families have the right “to know the fate of their relatives” as well as “the exact location of their graves”.^[7]

The customary rule of the obligation for respectful burial and tending of graves was also upheld by the Israeli High Court (HCJ). In 2002, the HCJ in the Jenin (Mortal Remains) case upheld that burial of the deceased must be performed with respect, in a timely manner and according to religious custom, and if possible, the remains must be returned to the families of the deceased. As recognized by the HCJ, this obligation is “a direct consequence of the principle for the dead – respect for all dead”. ^[8]

Al-Haq is deeply concerned by Israel's illegal practice of holding the bodies of deceased Palestinians and urges Israel to return the bodies of the deceased to their families for proper burial and mourning.