Israel’s policy of withholding bodies leaves Palestinian families in limbo

The Palestinian National Campaign to Retrieve the Bodies of Martyr recorded that Israel has refused to return the bodies of 81 Palestinians to their families since 2015, holding them in morgue freezers. Israel’s long-standing policy of withholding bodies of Palestinians killed while allegedly attacking Israeli targets has long been denounced as collective punishment, as it doubles the pain of relatives. The policy has come back to the fore since the uprising across Palestine in May and June this year, with 11 bodies withheld since.