Israel is the only place in the world where you can steal human organs of another person without being punished or considered a criminal. The act of stealing from enemy's dead or wounded combatants is considered a war crime under both customary international law and international treaties. The Fourth Hague Convention specifically bans the looting of the corpse of an enemy soldier or the wounded left on the battlefield. The law also applies to non-combatant populations.

It has been documented in the last 20 years in both Palestinian and Israeli media and in court proceedings that Israeli Occupation Forces are operating a human butcher shop, at Abu Kabir in Tel Aviv. Israeli forces routinely kidnap Palestinians at checkpoints, raids, hospital wards, or exhume them from cemeteries in order to harvest their organs for profit inside and outside of Israel, all without the family’s knowledge.

 Hamas did agree to free all living soldiers and return all dead Israelis. In return Israel agreed to free about 2000 Palestinians who were taken hostage in Gaza and 250 Palestinian political prisoners from the West Bank and to return 400 Palestinian remains out of total 733 remains held in Israel since 1967 War. Israel also agreed to expel 154 Palestinian hostages to Egypt, where they are confined to a hotel and kept under tight surveillance. They are not allowed to work, travel, or receive visits from their relatives who live in Gaza or the West Bank. Despite the agreement, moving people of the occupied territories to another territory is still illegal under international law.

While Hamas complied with the agreement and asked the mediating countries for heavy-duty equipment's to dig out the remains of 15 Israeli dead prisoners from under the rubble, Hamas' request was totally ignored. Meanwhile, the IDF launched a bombing campaign hours after the agreement went into effect throughout Gaza Strip, killing about 100 innocent people, including 6 children. Then Israel cut down the humanitarian aid in half. Then Israel returned the remain of 200 Palestinian as appose 400 remain as agreed upon. Only 6 remains where identified positively and the other were buried in a mass grave. 

Hamas is pressing for the release of the body of its former leader Yahya Sinwar during the first phase of a prisoner exchange deal, a demand that was quickly dismissed by the Israeli government. "It will not happen, period," a government source was quoted as saying by Israeli media. Sinwar was killed in battle with the Israeli Death Forces (IDF) in Gaza in October 2024, and Israeli officials said they will keep his body as a bargaining ship to free their prisoners. Now what is Israeli excuse?

It is ludicrous and outrageous that Israel is prolonging the agony and suffering of Palestinians, thus violating not only Islamic law of burial but also the Jewish burial law that call for burying the deceased within 24 hours unless there is extenuating circumstance. At the beginning, Israel said it will keep Sinwar's body as a trophy, then wanted to use him as a bargaining to free their prisoners.

While Palestinian resistance groups uphold ethical standards in handling captives and remains, the Israeli occupation continues its savage violations, including torture, mutilation, and identity erasure.

Dr. Ismail al-Thawabta, head of the media office, said Israeli forces had stolen organs from the bodies of Palestinian detainees that were returned to Gaza. He reported that dozens of bodies delivered near Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis were mutilated and missing vital parts such as eyes, limbs, and internal organs. “When we examined the bodies, we found missing parts—half bodies, headless corpses, bodies without eyes or internal organs,” he said.

Mohammed Zaqout, director of Gaza’s hospitals, also confirmed “clear signs of torture” on the returned bodies. "One body had a rope around the neck, blindfolds on the eyes, and bound hands. It was sent to us in that condition,” Zaqout said from southern Gaza. He added that many bodies were unrecognizable and only six of the deceased Palestinian prisoners returned from Israel have been identified so far.

Afnan al-Qarnawi, a fortunate Palestinian mother, identified her husband's body after it was returned to Gaza. Instead of returning the remains of 400 as agreed upon on the agreement, Israel returned only 219 that Israel returned to Gaza. Only the remains of six people were positively identified, and the rest were buried in a mass grave and have shown signs of torture and mutilation and some with gunshot to the head or chest, and many had body organs missing. Basically, their organs were stolen and sold on the black market for thousands of dollars. 

Afnan, a young mother of three, said, "We believe the occupation forces have a list of the names and identities of the bodies they returned to Gaza, but they conceal it to hurt the families of the victims." She was able to identify her husband, Hamed al-Qarnawi, by a previous injury he sustained in the 2018 Great March of Return protests in his back. 

Afnan stated, "I have three children, and I dressed them in their finest clothes when we identified their father's body, because we now know the location of his grave and can visit it." 

Finally, Israeli Transport Minister Miri Regev has said that the body of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar must be burned and not returned to Gaza, according to report by Arab News October 21. She called for the burning of the body of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar at a meeting of the Israeli security cabinet. Regev, who is a member of Israeli Crime Minister Netanyahu’s Likud Party, told Kol Barama, “I proposed in the cabinet to burn Sinwar’s body just like the Americans burned Bin Laden”.

Regev is a notorious liar! Bin Laden's body was not burned. He was buried in the either the Arabian Gulf or the Indian Ocean and according to a US official who said the Saudis had declined to accept his body. Either way, burning the remain of a Muslim or burying it in the sea is insulting, repugnant, and pure evil. If the Israeli government carry out the plan to burn Yahya Sinwar's body, I do not wish to hear about their holocaust stories, gas chambers, and how Hitler made soap and candles out of Jewish corpses anymore, while Israel has been committing a holocaust in Gaza for over two years.

Mahmoud El-Youseph is a Palestinian freelance writer and retired U.S. Air Force veteran. He writes on U.S. foreign policy, Middle East affairs, and justice. Email: elyousseph6@yahoo.com