Israeli occupation authorities on Thursday returned the body of 17-year-old Palestinian Salim Sami Salim Fuqaha’ to his family after withholding it since he was killed by Israeli forces in March, according to the Palestinian General Authority of Civil Affairs.
The authority said its teams received Fuqaha’s body at the Ein Siniya military roadblock north of Ramallah, in the central West Bank, before transferring it to the Palestine Medical Complex for the completion of medical procedures ahead of his burial in his hometown of Sinjil later in the day.
Fuqaha’, from Sinjil northeast of Ramallah, was killed by Israeli forces on March 17, 2026, on the outskirts of the town, according to the Civil Affairs Authority. Another Palestinian teenager who was with him was injured, and Israeli forces subsequently withheld Fuqaha’s body.
The Civil Affairs Authority said it continues efforts to secure the return of all Palestinian bodies held by Israeli authorities and is following up on the issue with relevant parties.
According to figures documented by the National Campaign for the Retrieval of Palestinian Bodies, Israel was holding the remains of 800 Palestinians in numbered cemeteries and morgue facilities.
The campaign said the total comprised 256 bodies held in so-called numbered graves and 544 bodies withheld since the policy resumed in 2015; among those documented were 99 prisoners, 83 children under 18, and 10 women.
The campaign also reported that, as of February 4, 2026, Israeli authorities had returned the remains of 930 Palestinians from Gaza.
The campaign said some of the remains were handed over before the prisoner exchange agreement and included bodies it said had been removed from cemeteries and Al-Shifa Hospital, as well as 66 boxes containing human remains.
