In this interview, Rami Saleh, human rights lawyer and director of the Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center, describes Israel’s policy of retaining the bodies of Palestinians killed by Israel or while carrying out armed resistance. Saleh notes that some of the bodies buried in the “cemeteries of numbers”—what Israel calls “enemy combatant cemeteries”—have been held since the 1960s and 1970s. The rate at which Israel is keeping Palestinian corpses, however, has significantly increased in recent years.

The latest data from the National Campaign for the Retrieval of Martyrs’ Bodies—from 1967 until today—finds that Israel is withholding 735 bodies in cemeteries of numbers and in various Israeli morgues, including 49 bodies of Palestinians from the Jerusalem governorate. According to the campaign, the youngest of those whose bodies are detained include 14-year-old Jerusalemites Wadea Elyan and Khaled al-Za’anin. This figure does not include an unknown number of bodies of Gaza residents held since October 2023, during the genocide.

Jerusalem Story (JS): Israel is the only country besides Russia that has legislation explicitly allowing the withholding of corpses as part of a broader counterinsurgency program. Israeli legal institutions allow the state to keep bodies as potential bargaining chips. How do you interpret this?

Rami Saleh (RS): As a human rights lawyer, I believe that respect for human dignity is inseparable from the right to be buried according to one’s religious traditions and customs. In Palestinian society, where the majority are Muslims, the deceased must be buried in a manner befitting human dignity. Israel’s practice of burying people and covering them with soil in the cemeteries of numbers, without regard for the families’ feelings or religious laws, violates international law, humanitarian norms, and human dignity.

From our experience, the purpose of the Israeli judicial system is to “legalize violations.” The Israeli judiciary, including its highest authority—the Supreme Court—has approved the policy of retaining bodies.

JS: What are the underlying motives behind Israel’s policy of retaining bodies? Why does it do so, and when did this policy begin?

RS: The policy of withholding bodies dates back to the British Mandate era, when relevant laws were enacted in 1945. However, as a society, we began to recognize this policy in the 1960s and 1970s, when the bodies of Palestinian and Arab resistance fighters and fedayeen were held in the cemeteries of numbers. Israel primarily withholds bodies to use them as “bargaining chips” in potential negotiations with the Palestinians. The policy is also used as a means of deterrence.

JS: Whose bodies are withheld? Are there specific criteria, or could this happen to anyone?

RS: Since October 7, 2023, every person killed by Israeli forces has had their body withheld. We even documented the detention of the body of a child who was shot by soldiers while throwing stones during clashes in the village of al-Funduq, near Qalqilya in the northern West Bank. This child posed no threat to the soldiers. However, the policy since the start of the recent war has been to withhold all bodies of shuhada, aiming to accumulate as many as possible to use as bargaining chips amid the war.

We [also] observed that if a martyr is from occupied Palestine [i.e., Palestinian citizens of Israel], their bodies were usually not withheld, as Israel cannot use the body of one of its own citizens as a bargaining chip.1 This, of course, does not apply to Jerusalemites, who hold residency status but not citizenship (see Precarious Status).

JS: To what extent can Israel’s reliance on the British Emergency Regulations be considered legitimate?

RS: In the context of Israeli law, such reliance is technically legal, since a state inherits the laws of its predecessor. For example, some Ottoman-era laws remain in force today. However, the key question is whether these laws are just and consistent with international law, customs, and human rights principles. The answer is: No, we don’t believe they are. [Withholding bodies] contravenes several international treaties, most notably the Geneva Conventions, which explicitly emphasize the importance of returning the remains of combatants from both sides during wartime.

JS: To what extent has the Israeli judiciary contributed to legitimizing and entrenching this policy?

RS: The Israeli judicial system is the body that legalizes violations against the Palestinian people. Consequently, a decision by the Israeli Supreme Court, in an expanded panel decision, gave the green light to the military to continue withholding martyrs’ bodies.2

In October 1994, the court ruled that withholding bodies for negotiation purposes was reasonable and appropriate, based on Article 133(3) of the British Emergency (Defense) Regulations. This decision came in response to a petition by the Israeli army to withhold the body of Hamas member Hassan Abbas as leverage to obtain information about the missing Israeli soldier Ilan Sa’adon.

Then, in January 2017, the court set a legal precedent by ruling that Article 133 of the Emergency Regulations did not authorize the army to withhold bodies for negotiation purposes, due to the absence of explicit legal wording allowing it.

In February 2018, Chief Justice Esther Hayut approved the state’s request to hold an additional hearing before an expanded judicial panel to reconsider the legality of withholding bodies for potential exchange deals. Hayut stated that the additional session was necessary because the prior ruling set a significant legal precedent on a sensitive issue.

In July 2018, the expanded hearing was held before a panel of seven judges to review the constitutionality of withholding bodies for negotiation purposes under Article 133. The key question before the court was: Does Article 133(3) of the British Emergency Regulations authorize the army to withhold bodies for prisoner exchange negotiations?

In September 2019, the court ruled in favor of the policy by a 4–3 majority . . . even though the regulation does not explicitly mention negotiation.

JS: Why did Israel revive the policy of withholding Palestinian bodies in the past decade after having suspended it in the previous one?

RS: During the Second Intifada, and specifically between 2001 and 2004, the policy of withholding martyrs’ bodies increased dramatically. However, this practice was suspended in 2004, following a recommendation by the Israeli attorney general, who allowed it only in cases involving a tangible prisoner-exchange deal. With the outbreak of the popular Jerusalem uprising in 2015, Israel revived this policy, seeking to withhold as many bodies as possible, both as a punitive measure and as a future negotiation tool with the Palestinians.

JS: There are two forms of body withholding. What are they, and which is harder to retrieve?

RS: Yes, the bodies are either kept in morgue refrigerators or buried in what are known as cemeteries of numbers. Israel’s approach is to keep them temporarily refrigerated before transferring them to the cemeteries of numbers. Dozens of bodies were retained in morgues between 2015 and 2018, and the families received their sons’ remains frozen. It is uncertain whether the Israeli authorities even have the storage capacity to keep hundreds of bodies in refrigeration. We believe the intent is to gradually transfer and bury them in the cemeteries of numbers.

We have been notified by the Israeli authorities of dozens of cases where there was an intention to move the bodies from morgues to cemeteries. At the families’ request [because they want to see their family members’ corpse as a part of the mourning process], we have filed urgent petitions to prevent this transfer, while also demanding medical reports and video evidence confirming death. In some cases, where we received videos proving that the executed individual posed no threat to soldiers or police, our human rights center demanded an investigation of the matter.

Withholding is difficult in both scenarios, and we cannot say that recovering bodies from morgues is easier than recovering them from cemeteries. However, it is clear that since October 7, 2023, the situation has completely changed. There is currently no way to retrieve bodies or appeal to Israeli courts amid the ongoing state of war and the presence of Israeli bodies still held in Gaza. [Editor’s note: This interview was conducted prior to the October 10 ceasefire between Israel and armed Palestinian factions; at publication, 12 Israeli bodies had been returned from Gaza to Israel as part of the ceasefire. There are believed to be 28 Israeli bodies held in Gaza in total. Israel has returned 195 bodies of an unknown number of Palestinians to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, but only a few had identifying information, and most were buried without being identified.]3

JS: What do families actually experience, whether their children’s bodies are held in morgues or cemeteries?

RS: The families’ psychological situation is devastating, as the circle of grief cannot be closed without burial. Many families believe their children are still alive, simply because they have not been buried. As the Arabic proverb says, “A drowning person clings to a straw.” Some families were misled into believing that hiring a Jewish lawyer might increase their chances of retrieving the body, and they paid large sums of money—yet sadly, none of them succeeded in recovering their children.

JS: What are the main achievements of the National Campaign for the Retrieval of Bodies launched by your center?

RS: The campaign was launched in August 2008. Before that, the issue of withheld bodies had no resonance and was not addressed by any Palestinian entity. Now, there is an official National Day for the Retrieval of Martyrs’ Bodies, observed every year on August 27, as declared by the Palestinian Cabinet on August 3, 2008.

When we launched the campaign, we documented—through meetings with families—260 cases of withheld bodies that no one had ever spoken about. During the early documentation phase, we discovered that bodies withheld after an explosion in the 1970s had never been raised by the Palestinian leadership or factions, even though six martyrs were involved. This is where the importance of the national campaign truly lies.

At the grassroots level, we worked to raise public awareness about the importance of demanding the retrieval of bodies. We organized vigils for the families of martyrs, sat with them, and offered psychological support, especially to the mothers. Bringing together people who shared the same pain helped alleviate their suffering.

Finally, at the legal level, the campaign succeeded in attracting the attention of both the Israeli judiciary and international forums to the importance of returning bodies. We won several cases, and indeed, some bodies were recovered and buried.

JS: How does freezing affect the bodies after months in the morgue?

Between 2015 and 2018, the families who received their sons’ remains after refrigeration described the bodies as charred and deformed due to ice accumulation. However, it is difficult to discuss further details because of Israeli-imposed conditions on the handover; specifically, that no one outside the immediate family may be present during the transfer or burial. We cannot say that the current practice of morgue detention is ongoing—we do not believe it is.

JS: Which is harder to recover: the bodies of martyrs who died in Israeli prison before completing their sentences, or those killed in the field? Or is there no difference?

RS: We do not believe there is a difference, since Israel’s general policy remains the same: to continue withholding bodies in order to use them as negotiation leverage.

JS: In conclusion, can you tell us about the conditions and restrictions imposed during the handover process?

It should be noted that these restrictions apply only in Jerusalem. No corpse has been handed over in the West Bank under such conditions, since the Palestinian Authority—rather than families—receives the bodies from the Israeli side there.

By contrast, because Jerusalem is under full Israeli control, several severe restrictions are imposed. The number of mourners is limited, sometimes to no more than six people. No autopsy is allowed, and no forensic doctor may be present. The family is often notified after midnight, with the actual handover taking place between 2:00 and 3:00 a.m. Chanting, flag-raising, or any public display of mourning typical of Palestinian funerals are strictly prohibited. Worst of all, the families are forced to sign severe financial guarantees, sometimes [agreeing to a fine of] up to NIS 40,000 [about $12,000], which is forfeited if any violation occurs during the handover or burial.

This interview was conducted with Rami Saleh at the Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center on Thursday, October 9, 2025, and follow-up questions were answered via WhatsApp voice messages on Saturday, October 11.