IDF still holding 350 bags of unidentified human remains from Oct. 7 massacre – report
Military rabbinate reportedly wants to repeat forensic examination, which religious services ministry opposes; issue said set for decision in a committee over coming days
The IDF is still holding two containers filled with some 350 bags of unidentified human remains salvaged from southern Israel after the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, Hebrew media reported Friday.
The remains are stored at the military rabbinate’s Shura headquarters in the country’s center.
The Shura base was overwhelmed by the volume and degradation of remains it received from the massacre, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza.
Some of the remains were severely charred and damaged beyond recognition. However, according to Ynet, at least 200 of the bags at Shura contain some remains that the rabbinate believes it could identify if it had greater resources. Each bag holds remains initially identified as belonging to a single person, though mistakes were made amid the chaos of the shock assault.
IDF Chief Rabbi Brig. Gen. Eyal Krim wants to carry out further forensic examination of the unidentified remains. However, the director general of the Religious Services Ministry, Yehuda Avidan, who would need to sign off on any examination, has called for the remains to be buried in a collective, anonymous grave, the news site reported. Avidan’s position is backed by Abu Kabir forensic institute chief Chen Kugel, while Krim is backed by Chief Rabbi David Yosef, Ynet said.
A final decision will be made in the coming days by a joint committee of the religious services ministry, the health ministry, the police and the Abu Kabir forensic institute, according to Ynet. Sources on the committee who are opposed to another forensic scan told Ynet it was unfeasible to continue examining the remains indefinitely and that collective burial was common practice in such cases.
The matter is complicated by the possibility that the remains include those of invading Hamas terrorists, some of whose remains were accidentally brought to Shura instead of to a dedicated container in Sde Teiman, near Beersheba.
Concern over that possibility grew in the IDF rabbinate after a forensic scan of the Sde Teiman container some six months ago found remains of Israeli victims.
A source closely acquainted with the matter was quoted by Ynet as saying, “There is no greater anguish than that of a bereaved family that will discover that its loved one’s remains were buried with a Nukhba terrorist,” referring to the elite Hamas force that spearheaded the terror group’s onslaught.
The rabbinate, which was overwhelmed by the volume and severe degradation of the remains it received from the Hamas onslaught, is also weary of misidentifying remains, like in the case of Elyakim Libman, who had been presumed hostage until his remains were discovered in May in the grave of a fellow victim.
To avoid such errors, the military rabbinate has employed a strict protocol in which all remains are sampled twice and cross-referenced with various medical and DNA databases, Ynet said, adding that the military considers remains positively identified only when it finds confirmation in at least two databases.
Ynet reported that the military has earmarked funds for the IDF rabbinate to conduct another examination of the remains at Shura. Sampling each bag twice costs about NIS 3,000 ($827), according to IDF rabbinate sources cited by Ynet, though a source on the joint committee told the news site that the rabbinate was underestimating the cost by a long shot.
Sources on the committee, who are opposed to a re-examination of the remains, told Ynet that the examination would constitute “desecration of the dead” because it degrades the remains, and accused the IDF rabbinate of cynically using the remains to promote the use of its own forensic labs.
Meanwhile, other sources cited by Ynet said Avidan, the religious services director general, had rejected a re-examination of the remains as part of a power struggle with Chief Rabbi Yosef, who in March ruled in favor of a re-examination.
The power struggle was reportedly related to tensions within the Sephardic ultra-Orthodox Shas political party, between the chief rabbi and his brother and predecessor, Yitzhak Yosef. Avidan was said to be a supporter of the latter. The religious services ministry denied its position had anything to do with tensions between the brothers, according to Ynet.
Still other sources told Ynet that Avidan was opposed to re-examination because he did not want to cause bereaved families further anguish by informing them that remains of their loved ones have been “left aside this entire time.”
The Times of Israel Community.