The Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, confirmed that the Israeli occupation authorities continue to hold the bodies of hundreds of Palestinian martyrs, both those abducted from the Gaza Strip during the genocidal war and those held for decades in what are known as “numbered graves.”
In a statement received by Quds Press on Tuesday evening, the movement explained that “the occupation refuses to hand over the bodies to their families or disclose any information about them,” considering this “a brutal crime and a blatant violation of human values, occurring amidst a suspicious international silence regarding the resolution of this ongoing humanitarian issue.”
Hamas pointed out that “the suffering of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip continues, while the families of approximately ten thousand martyrs still endure the pain of losing their sons, whose bodies remain under the rubble of destroyed buildings. This suffering is a result of the genocidal war waged by the occupation for two full years, and is exacerbated by the severe shortage of equipment and heavy machinery, which the occupation continues to prevent from entering the Strip.”
The movement stated that “the intense international attention given to the bodies of dozens of Zionist soldiers, while ignoring the tragedy of thousands of Palestinian families whose sons’ remains have been forcibly withheld, represents a moral failing and a dangerous deviation from the standards of fairness and justice.”
It emphasized that “this reality necessitates an immediate review and a genuine international effort to pressure the occupation to release the bodies of the martyrs it is holding, open the Rafah crossing, and allow the entry of heavy equipment necessary to recover the martyrs’ bodies from under the rubble and bury them in a manner that preserves human dignity.”
Hamas reiterated its demand for the National Committee to be swiftly empowered to assume its full responsibilities in the Gaza Strip, including opening the Rafah crossing in both directions, immediately commencing reconstruction, launching a comprehensive operation to recover the martyrs’ remains, and addressing the issue of the missing persons whom the occupation continues to forcibly conceal.
