Israel to return bodies of 91 terrorists to PA on Thursday
Remains of Savoy Hotel and Cafe Hillel attackers among those to be received by Palestinian leaders in Ramallah
Ilan Ben Zion is an AFP reporter and a former news editor at The Times of Israel.
The Palestinian Authority released on Tuesday the names of the 91 terrorists whose remains will be returned by Israel in two days.
Israel will deliver the bodies to Ramallah on Thursday, where President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian leadership will attend a reception ceremony at the Muqata’a compound, Palestinian Civil Affairs Minister Hussein a-Sheikh said.
Among the 91 bodies are the remains of a suicide bomber who killed seven Israelis at Cafe Hillel in Jerusalem; a terrorist who blew up the Jerusalem No. 2 bus killing 18; and two suicide bombers who killed 16 Israelis in Beersheba. The bodies of seven Fatah terrorists who took over the Savoy Hotel in Tel Aviv in 1975 and were killed in a Sayeret Matkal rescue operation will also be returned on Thursday.
The return of the bodies of 130 terrorists is regarded as a confidence-building gesture aimed at reinitiating direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. The remainder of the bodies will be transferred to the Palestinian Authority on an unspecified date.
