Israel is reportedly holding on to the bodies of roughly 1,700 Palestinians, including some who were not involved in attacks against Israelis.
Citing two sources familiar with the matter, Haaretz says the bodies are being used as bargaining chips for future hostage negotiations, even though Hamas no longer holds any Israeli captives.
The vast majority of the bodies belong to Palestinians who carried out attacks against Israelis, Haaretz says, without specifying the breakdown of how many of the bodies were from Gaza compared to the West Bank.
The policy is backed by Shin Bet chief David Zini and the IDF but has faced pushback from the Shin Bet’s legal adviser, who has argued that Israel has no legal justification for holding onto the bodies of Palestinians not involved in attacks.
The IDF says that it won’t comment on internal deliberations, and the Shin Bet declines to comment on the matter.
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