The family of Palestinian resistance figure Sheikh Khader Adnan has blasted Israeli authorities for refusing to return his remains days after his death and refusing to indicate whether they intend to do so.

"It's collective punishment," the director of the Palestinian human rights organization Adalah, Hassan Jabareen, told the New York Times (NYT). "These are the bodies of people who live under Israeli occupation," he continued.

Prisoner-turned-martyr Khader Adnan died on May 2 at age 44 following an 87-day hunger strike in refusal of his arbitrary arrest, as the occupation kept Martyr Adnan detained in the Ramla prison clinic.

Read more: Shtayyeh: "Israel" used martyrs' bodies in medical laboratories

Adnan remained for 87 days in a small cell in the Ramla prison clinic, waging a fierce Battle of Empty Stomachs, during which his wife traveled from one governorate to another, from one event to another, from radio to television or any media outlet, seeking any opportunity to highlight her husband's suffering and conveying to the public the developments of his strike.

"Israel" withholds the bodies of the martyrs as a part of its policy to avoid autopsies that would expose the IOF's heinous crimes. #Palestine pic.twitter.com/uL9QzG41UF

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) June 16, 2022

Adnan went on strike from the very beginning of his arrest on February 5, when Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) raided his home in the Jenin camp.

At the time, Israeli occupation forces launched a massive campaign of raids and incursions in the West Bank, during which they arrested a number of Palestinians, including leaders of the Palestine Islamic Jihad movement.

Red Cross urges 'Israel' to return corpse

According to Palestinian sources who were in the town, the IOF brutally assaulted Adnan during his arrest and humiliated him in front of his wife and children, the eldest of which is 14 years old.

The refusal to give up the martyr's body has raised questions on this practice, which is frequently used as pressure to get the bodies of Israelis detained by Palestinian factions.

According to the Jerusalem Legal Center, "Tel Aviv" has stored the remains of about 130 Palestinians since 2015, with some buried in cemeteries and the majority preserved in freezers.

International human rights organizations have condemned the occupation authorities' practice, claiming that withholding bodies collectively punishes the relatives of the dead and may violate international law.

According to the New York Times, "Israel's" prison service stated that the body was given to the military on Tuesday, the day of his death, but a military official stated on Wednesday that it was not in their custory, and the body's location remained unclear as of Friday.

This Monday, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) urged "Israel" to return the corpse “so his family can mourn and arrange a dignified burial according to their customs and beliefs.”

“We want the Sheikh among us,” Adnan’s wife said. “And we want him to be buried next to his father as he willed.”

UN officials recently demanded that "Israel" be held accountable for his death, describing it as "a tragic testament to Israel's cruel and inhumane detention policy and practices, as well as the international community's failure to hold Israel accountable in the face of callous illegalities perpetrated against Palestinians."

The Israeli occupation presently keeps around 4,900 Palestinians in Israeli prisons, including 1,016 administrative prisoners who are kept without trial or indictment indefinitely.