The long-running crisis over the bodies of Palestinians held by Israel because of the Gaza war has grown even more severe. Israel is withholding the bodies of roughly 1,700 Palestinians. Most of these bodies belong to Gaza residents. They are being kept for potential future use in prisoner or hostage exchange negotiations.
The Palestinian organization “National Campaign for the Retrieval of Martyrs’ Bodies and Disclosure of the Fate of the Missing” says it has documented the names of 799 Palestinians held by Israel. Of them, 256 have been buried in a military cemetery known as the “Cemetery of Numbers.” Among the withheld bodies are 81 children and 10 women.
Palestinians refer to these secret Israeli military cemeteries as “Cemetery of Numbers.” There, bodies are buried without their names disclosed, with only a number placed on the grave. The related information is kept in a record. Because these cemeteries are typically in militarily controlled areas, family members cannot visit them. As a result, many families go years without knowing the location of a loved one’s grave or the actual circumstances of their death.
Withholding Palestinian bodies is not a new practice. Israel expanded this policy further after 2015. In 2017, the country’s security cabinet approved withholding certain bodies for potential use in negotiations. In 2019, Israel’s Supreme Court also allowed withholding bodies as part of negotiations under specific circumstances. Palestinian authorities and human rights organizations have long criticized this policy.
Meanwhile, the crisis has grown since the Gaza war began. According to the Palestinian organization’s figures, Israel had returned 930 bodies to Gaza as of February 4, 2026. Along with these, 66 boxes filled with human remains were also returned. However, identifying these bodies has become difficult. Without adequate DNA testing equipment, efforts to identify them rely on information provided by families and conventional methods.
Thousands of bodies also remain trapped beneath the rubble in Gaza. Zaher al-Wahidi, director of the health information unit at Gaza’s health ministry, said on August 20 that roughly 7,400 bodies remain under the rubble. Rescue teams are unable to reach many areas.
According to Gaza’s health ministry, more than 73,400 Palestinians have been killed and more than 174,400 injured in Israeli attacks since October 2023. As a result, identifying the dead and recovering bodies has become a major humanitarian challenge.
Under international humanitarian law, the bodies and graves of those killed in war must be treated with respect, and arrangements must be made to return bodies to their families where possible. Article 34 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions also contains provisions on this matter.