Detention of Bodies of Over 1,700 Martyrs Is a Continuing Crime Against Palestinians

The Palestinian Ahrar Movement affirmed that the Israeli occupation's detention of the bodies of more than 1,700 Palestinian martyrs in the 'cemeteries of numbers' and morgue refrigerators constitutes a continuing crime and a flagrant violation of the sanctity of death and of the most basic humanitarian and legal rules. The movement explained that the insistence of occupation leaders on using the bodies of martyrs as pressure and bargaining chips reveals that this policy is not individual acts, but an official approach reflecting the occupation's sadism in taking revenge on the families of the martyrs and pressuring the Palestinian people, exploiting the bodies of the dead to achieve political and security goals. It stressed that the martyr's body is not a negotiating card, and that his family's right to recover it and bury it with dignity is not subject to bargaining or blackmail, affirming that the occupation will not be able through this policy to break the will of the Palestinian people or erase the truth of its crimes. The movement held the occupation fully responsible for the continuation of this crime, calling on the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and international human rights institutions to leave the circle of silence, open this file urgently, and pressure for the disclosure of the fate of all detained bodies and their delivery to their families without conditions. It affirmed that justice does not fall with the martyrdom of its owner, and that the dignity of the martyr does not end at the moment of his martyrdom, stressing that his family's right to recover his body and bury it will remain a fixed right that the occupation cannot confiscate no matter how long time passes.