While the Israeli occupation authorities market themselves globally as a leading “humanitarian” state in organ donation, boasting of record-breaking kidney donation rates, shocking facts are emerging that condemn the occupation for committing grave crimes against the Palestinian body, both living and deceased. These crimes include the detention of martyrs’ bodies, the violation of their sanctity, and the suspected theft of their organs, in flagrant violation of international law and international humanitarian law.
Coinciding with the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People and its Prisoners, observed on January 31, the issue of the detained martyrs’ bodies has resurfaced, amidst growing testimonies from martyrs’ families, doctors, and human rights organizations confirming that what is happening is not merely an arbitrary detention policy, but rather an organized crime perpetrated under a blanket of international silence.
Yasmin al-Barsh, the wife of the martyred Palestinian orthopedic surgeon Adnan al-Barsh, did not rule out the possibility that the Israeli occupation had stolen organs from her husband’s body. He died under torture in Israeli prisons in April 2024. In a press statement, al-Barsh said that her husband’s body was transferred immediately after his death to the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute, an Israeli center used for autopsies and criminal investigations. She considered this procedure, along with the continued detention of his body to this day, further evidence of tampering with and desecration of his remains.
For his part, the Director General of the Ministry of Health in Gaza, Dr. Munir al-Barsh, directly accused the occupation, questioning the source of the record numbers of kidneys it boasts about globally.
In a statement al-Barsh said that the occupation, which holds the bodies of Palestinian martyrs for years and prevents their return to their families, is the same occupation that presents a false humanitarian face to the world today, speaking of solidarity and organ donation, while secretly implementing policies that violate the most basic human rights.
