According to Haaretz Israeli newspaper, authorities confessed that they have lost the remains of dozens of Palestinian bodies killed by Israeli forces several years ago.
This was discovered when Israeli prosecution responded to a petition filed by Palestinian families, to the Supreme Court, to return 123 bodies of their relatives; they said they know the location of only two bodies.
Presumably, Al Ray further reports, the number of people whose burial places are unknown is actually far higher: At a High Court session, last month, prosecutors said that, of 123 requests submitted by Palestinian families up to 2015 and included in a different petition, only two bodies had been located. A number of Israeli legal and military officials say they believe the state has no information about the whereabouts of many of the bodies. In a few cases, the remains had been in Israel’s possession since the 1990s.
The paper added that, “The truth must be told: The traces of some of the bodies have been lost,” said a senior Justice Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity. He added that the search for the missing remains, which began only recently, is still going on. “The task right now is to sit all the officials down and decide who’s in charge.”
