Palestinian National Day for the Retrieval of the Bodies of Martyrs

 

Free the Bodies of Palestinian Martyrs

 

August 27, 2026

 

After decades of occupation, and nearly three years since the beginning of the crime of genocide in the Gaza Strip, the issue of withholding the bodies of Palestinian martyrs, alongside the issue of those forcibly disappeared, remains one of the cruelest and most consequential manifestations of this crime. It concerns not only death and the loss that follows from it, but also the occupation’s imposition of continued control over the victim and their family even after their martyrdom.

 

The body, which should be a protected right belonging to the family, is in such circumstances turned into an additional tool of “punishment,” humiliation, and bargaining, while the families of the martyrs remain trapped in an endless wait, suspended between uncertainty and the denial of their most basic human rights: to know the fate of their loved ones, bid them farewell, and give them a dignified burial.

 

The National Day for the Retrieval of the Bodies of Martyrs is marked annually on August 27. The National Campaign for the Retrieval of the Bodies of Martyrs and prisoners’ institutions affirm that the number of martyrs whose identities are known to the campaign and the institutions stands at 799.

 

The most recent was martyr Fathi Khazem from Jenin, who was executed inside his home and whose body was subsequently withheld.

 

Of the 799 martyrs whose identities are known, 256 are being held in the so-called “cemeteries of numbers,” 99 were prisoners, 81 were children under the age of 18, and 10 were females. These figures, with the names, ages, and details they contain, reveal the extensive scope of the policy of withholding bodies and demonstrate that it is neither an incidental practice nor one limited to specific cases. Rather, it is an ongoing policy that has been employed for decades and has dramatically intensified in the context of the crime of genocide and the accompanying widespread killings, enforced disappearances, withholding of bodies, and deprivation of families of information about the fate of their loved ones.

 

These figures cannot be treated as final, as the scale of the crime—particularly in the Gaza Strip—has yet to be fully documented. The continuation of the assault, the presence of thousands of missing persons, the difficulty of reaching the victims’ locations, as well as the continued policy of enforced disappearance, mean that the numbers of bodies being withheld and people missing are liable to increase. This places an urgent task before Palestinian and international bodies: to reveal the fate of all victims, establish their identities, and document the circumstances of their martyrdom and the locations where their bodies are being held.

 

Detention… When the Body Becomes a Tool of Control

 

The withholding of the bodies of Palestinian martyrs represents one of the most brutal forms of control, because it extends the act of “punishment” from the Palestinian’s life into the period after death, turning the body itself into a means of keeping the consequences of the crime alive. The crime does not end with the killing of a Palestinian; it extends to depriving their family of their body and of their right to bid farewell and bury them in accordance with their beliefs, transforming the moment of death—which should mark the end of suffering—into the beginning of another phase of waiting, anxiety, and deprivation.

 

This policy does not stop at withholding the bodies. In many cases, it is accompanied by conditions and procedures imposed by the occupation authorities when the bodies are returned, including burial at night, restrictions on the number of mourners, the imposition of a heavy security presence, requirements for financial guarantees, or transferring the body to locations far from the family. In this way, the farewell and burial ceremonies themselves become an additional space for reproducing control and repression, even during the most human and sensitive of moments.

 

In this context, the case of the bodies of martyrs from the occupied Gaza Strip that have been returned—numbering 930 bodies according to the campaign’s documentation—raises serious questions about the conditions in which the bodies were held and how they were treated, and whether they were subjected to violations of the sanctity and dignity of the dead, including the possible theft of organs. This underscores the need to open an independent and transparent investigation, ensure access to relevant medical and forensic evidence and records, and prevent this file from being closed before the full truth has been uncovered.

 

From a Military Practice to a Systematic Policy

The policy of withholding the bodies of Palestinian martyrs did not begin with the current period; its roots extend back decades, to the era of British occupation. Since 1967, thousands of Palestinians have been buried in what became known as “cemeteries of numbers”—secret sites about which families are not provided with sufficient information—leaving the fate of a large number of martyrs unknown for many years.

In 2004, a directive was issued that temporarily restricted this practice, but it resumed on a broader scale beginning in 2015, based on the British Emergency Regulations of 1945. In 2017, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that there was insufficient legal basis for withholding bodies, but it postponed implementation of its decision and gave the government an opportunity to establish a legislative basis for the policy.

In 2018, amendments to the so-called “Counter-Terrorism Law” granted the police authority to withhold the bodies of Palestinians. Then, in 2019, following a petition filed by the Jerusalem Legal Aid Center (JLAC), the Israeli Supreme Court again authorized the withholding of bodies for the purposes of “bargaining,” before the scope of the policy was subsequently expanded to include Palestinians whom the occupation authorities accuse of carrying out armed resistance operations.

Thus, this practice evolved from an exceptional and temporary measure into a policy in which military orders, legislation, and judicial decisions operate in concert, revealing a systematic process of consolidating control over the martyr’s body and turning it into a ‘bargaining chip’ even after his life has ended.

“Suspended Grief”

The impact of withholding bodies cannot be measured solely by the days or years that a body remains separated from its family, because this policy produces a prolonged form of loss in which the family is forced to live in a state of “suspended grief.” The family is neither able to bid farewell to and bury its loved one, nor able to bring the process of loss to a close and begin the natural course of mourning.

The absence of the body deprives the family of the ritual of farewell and of the right to conduct burial ceremonies in accordance with its religious and social beliefs, while keeping the question of the person’s fate present on a daily basis.

In many cases, the trauma is compounded when bodies are returned frozen or bearing signs of injuries or mutilation, making the moment of recovering the body—which should mark the end of the wait—a new extension of trauma and pain.

In this way, withholding a body becomes a form of indirect collective punishment: the impact of the crime does not end with the victim but extends to the family, which is deprived of its right to mourn, bury, and bid farewell, and remains subjected to waiting, conditions, and humiliation.

A Violation of Human Dignity and the Rights of the Dead

The withholding of martyrs’ bodies and concealment of their fate directly undermine the principle of human dignity and raise multiple violations under international human rights law and international humanitarian law, including obligations concerning respect for the dead, the dignified treatment of human bodies, enabling families to learn the fate of their relatives, and respecting family life as well as religious beliefs and practices.

The continued withholding of large numbers of bodies, alongside the thousands of forcibly disappeared from the Gaza Strip, also places an increased responsibility on the international community—not merely to demand disclosure of the numbers, but to ensure independent mechanisms for investigation, documentation, and identification of victims; to reveal the locations where bodies are being held; and to ensure their recovery and return to their families.

The 1,700 bodies, according to figures revealed by Israeli media, do not represent a mere number. Behind every body is a family waiting, a name waiting to be reclaimed, a life story that has been cut short, and a human right that remains suspended. Every body whose fate remains unknown also means that the crime has not been brought to a close, and that its consequences continue to reverberate through the life of a family waiting for truth and justice.

 

 

The Crime Does Not End with Death

The issue of the bodies of martyrs is not a humanitarian matter separate from the broader context of genocide, killing, and enforced disappearance. Rather, it is part of a wider system targeting Palestinians in both life and death, seeking to control even the manner in which they are buried and their families’ ability to mourn them.

Accordingly, what is required is not limited to documenting the number of bodies or issuing statements about them. It requires ending the policy of withholding bodies; immediately revealing the fate of all missing persons; determining the locations of the bodies and the identities of their owners; ensuring their recovery and return to their families; and opening independent investigations into the circumstances of death, detention, and the handling of the bodies, including any allegations involving violations of bodily integrity or tampering with the remains.

The recovery of the bodies of martyrs is not merely a demand made by families waiting for their loved ones; it is a struggle for truth, dignity, and justice. Respect for the dead, the recovery of their bodies, and their families’ right to bid farewell to them and bury them should never be subject to bargaining or negotiation. The continued withholding of bodies means that the occupation is not content with controlling Palestinians’ lives, but seeks to maintain control over their bodies even after death.

Accordingly, this year’s National Day for the Retrieval of the Bodies of Martyrs comes amid a heightened responsibility: to transform the issue of the bodies and the forcibly disappeared from a deferred matter into an urgent international issue; to mobilize broader Palestinian and international action to end this policy; to hold those responsible accountable; and to guarantee every family’s right to know the fate of its loved one, recover their body, and bury them in a manner that safeguards their dignity and the dignity of their family.

 

We have names, and we have a homeland.
Free the bodies of Imprisoned Palestinian Martyrs