Body of deceased Palestinian Ahmad Erekat can continue to be held, Israel court rules

Israel is committing a war crime by holding the bodies of deceased Palestinians as hostages, Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel said today in response to the Israeli Supreme Court’s decision to approve the continued detention of the body of Ahmad Erekat, Safa reported.

“Israel’s policy of holding Palestinian bodies – 81 people since 2015 – is inhumane and degrading, and a blatant violation of international law, including the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court,” said Adalah in a statement.

“The Court’s decision today gives a free hand to the military, without governmental authority, and retroactively approves such an illegal practice. Israel must immediately return the dozens of Palestinian bodies it currently holds.”

The Israeli Supreme Court rejected a petition on Wednesday filed by Adalah on behalf of Mustafa Erekat, against the Israeli army’s continuous hold of the deceased body of his son, Ahmad.

Twenty-seven-year-old Ahmad was shot and killed by Israeli Border Police at the “Container” checkpoint in Abu Dis on 23 June 2020, alleging the car he was driving in had tried to ram a policewoman.

READ: Israel’s killing of Palestinian man at checkpoint was ‘extrajudicial execution’, concludes report