Report Reveals Zionist Regime Retain Remains of 1,700 Palestinians for Possible Negotiations
The zionist regime is holding the remains of around 1,700 Palestinians for possible use in future prisoner or remains exchanges, despite no Israeli captives being held by Hamas, Israel’s Haaretz daily reported Monday.
The figure was raised during recent discussions within the Israeli security establishment, the newspaper said, citing two unnamed sources familiar with the matter.
According to the report, Shin Bet chief David Zini supports retaining the bodies in case Israelis are taken captive or go missing in the future, a position also backed by the Israeli army.
Haaretz said most of the remains belong to Palestinians from the Gaza Strip who took part in the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel or subsequent fighting.
Some of the remains, however, belong to Palestinians who were not involved in the fighting, the report said.
Legal sources cited by Haaretz questioned the Israeli regime’s authority to retain the bodies, saying the state lacks the power to hold the remains of Palestinians with no proven involvement in fighting unless the Security Cabinet first establishes a policy on the matter.
Earlier, in October 2025, the Palestinian National Campaign for the Retrieval of Martyrs’ Bodies and Disclosure of the Fate of the Missing said the Israeli regime was holding around 1,500 bodies of Palestinians from Gaza at the Sde Teiman military facility in southern Israel.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army continues to target Palestinians in several areas of the Gaza Strip despite an Israel-Hamas ceasefire that went into effect on Oct. 10, 2025, killing at least 1,258 Palestinians and injuring 4,139 others, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
The Israeli regime has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians and injured over 174,000 in a genocidal war since October 2023.
The war has also caused widespread destruction, affecting 90% of the enclave’s infrastructure.
