The Israeli occupation is withholding the bodies of hundreds of Palestinians it killed in cemeteries and refrigerators,  the National Campaign for the Retrieval of Palestinian War Victims’ Bodies reported on Saturday.

The campaign reported that "Israel" is still withholding the bodies of three Palestinians it killed in Jenin on Tuesday, bringing the number of Palestinian bodies held in "cemeteries of numbers" and refrigerators to 676, including the remains of 71 detainees, 60 children and nine women.

The so-called “Cemeteries of Numbers” consist of unmarked graves outlined with stones, each marked by a metal plate displaying a number rather than the deceased’s name, with these numbers linked to individual files maintained by Israeli security authorities.

The Israeli occupation is violating international law by withholding the bodies of murdered #Palestinians and keeping them in cemeteries classified by numbers rather than their own names. #Palestine pic.twitter.com/b9Ye4zhBl9

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) February 23, 2022

The National Campaign unveiled that some of the bodies held by the Israeli regime date back to the 60s and 70s, and while its data do not include bodies stolen from Gaza due to lack of accurate information, it documented the return of 325 bodies from Gaza.

In September 2019, the Israeli Supreme Court determined that military commanders had the authority to temporarily withhold the bodies of Palestinians killed by Israeli occupation forces, allowing for their potential use as “bargaining chips” in future negotiations.

Israeli cruelty evident on Palestinian detainees

This report comes as the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Alice Jill Edwards, called for a swift and thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the deaths of Palestinian detainees held in Israeli prisons on Saturday.

The special rapporteur emphasized that while the enforcement of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza represented a positive development, the mistreatment of Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons, especially following October 7, 2023, remained a serious concern that required urgent attention and condemnation, describing the condition of the detainees and emphasizing the need for independent, impartial investigations.

The Commission of Palestinian Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs shed light on the alarming conditions detainees face in Israeli prisons in November 2024, noting that most detainees are brought to visits in handcuffs.

The commission revealed in a statement that two Palestinians were killed in Israeli prisons as a result of systematic crimes committed by the Israeli occupation through slow death and deliberate medical neglect, worsened by abuse and maltreatment.

The statement highlighted that these crimes form part of a long-standing policy of the occupation targeting Palestinian detainees, encompassing acts of torture, deliberate medical neglect, and the systematic abandonment of prisoners to endure suffering and succumb to illness, emphasizing the growing number of violations committed against detainees, particularly in the context of the ongoing genocidal war on Gaza.

Many sick prisoners and detainees face deteriorating health conditions while the occupation continues to deny them necessary medical treatment, further contributing to the rising death toll within the prisons.

Moreover, the commission revealed in September 2024 that 1,200 Palestinians were facing systematic abuse, torture, abuse, and assault in Israeli prisons, with testimonies from Palestinian detainees exposing severe violence, rape, electrocution, extreme hunger, humiliation and other forms of maltreatment.

Megiddo Prison holds a notorious reputation of severe torture and abuse, described by the Palestinian Prisoners Society as one of the central prisons where the Israeli occupation detains Palestinians.

Dozens of testimonies emerged from detainees describing the brutal acts carried out by the Israeli suppression units, involving torture and severe abuse, with systematic mistreatment mentioned in their accounts, including violent raid operations and extremely harsh detention conditions.