According to Israel’s Haaretz newspaper, reported on August 11th, Israel is holding around 1,700 Palestinian remains, which it may use as bargaining chips in future negotiations.
Two people familiar with the matter said that although Hamas currently has no Israeli hostages, David Zein, the director of the Israel National Security Agency (Shin Bet), believes that Israel must keep these bodies as bargaining chips in case of future hostage-taking situations. This position is also supported by the Israel Defense Forces.
Reports indicate that the majority of these remains were Palestinians who participated in the attacks against Israel on October 7, 2023. However, there were also some non-combatants who did not participate in the attacks.
Legal experts say that the Israeli government has no right to seize the remains of Palestinian non-combatants, as the Israeli cabinet has not passed a resolution on this matter.
Regarding the aforementioned reports, Israel Defense Forces and Sinobit both refused comment.
In February this year, the newspaper Haaretz reported that Israel had detained the remains of 766 Palestinian individuals and 10 foreign citizens whose identities had been confirmed. However, sources said the actual number is much higher.
