Israel holds remains of 1,700 Palestinians as bargaining chip

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Israel holds the remains of about 1,700 Palestinians to use them as a bargaining chip in future negotiations. The information was released by the Haaretz newspaper on August 11. Currently, no Israeli person remains detained by Palestinian resistance factions.

Shin Bet chief David Zini argues that the remains should remain in Israeli custody for eventual use in negotiations related to future captures. The position is shared by the Israeli army, according to Haaretz.

Most of the bodies correspond to Palestinians who participated in the Al-Aqsa Operation, carried out by Hamas on October 7, 2023. The set also includes Palestinians who did not participate in combat.

Jurists cited in the case argue that Israel does not have authority to hold the remains of Palestinians who did not participate in combat without a specific cabinet resolution. No such resolution has been discussed since January 2026, when the remains of the last Israeli prisoner were returned from Gaza.

In petitions filed with the Israeli Supreme Court, the Shin Bet's own legal advisor, whose identity cannot be disclosed, stated that the State cannot continue holding bodies after determining that the corresponding person was not involved in combat against Israel.

On July 9, Haaretz reported that Israel held the bodies of more than 100 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip who died while in Israeli custody. The report cited the human rights group and indicated that at least 68 of the dead were residents of Gaza.

Data on detentions also show the scale of Israeli prison policy. According to numbers from the Israel Prison Service released by the Times of Israel on August 7, 3,198 Palestinians were subjected to administrative detention without charge or trial, while another 4,767 remained imprisoned under the Israeli classification of security detention.

In addition to these groups, 1,358 Palestinians abducted during the Israeli genocide in Gaza are classified by Israel as illegal combatants. Many are held at the Sde Teiman prison, where Palestinians have reported torture, rape, and other forms of violence committed by guards, including the use of trained dogs.

Administrative detention of Palestinian children has also increased. Data published by The Cradle indicate that the number of children held in this modality rose from 103 in January 2025 to 191 in March 2026. In the same period, the number of Palestinian children remaining in administrative detention for more than a year increased from six to about 50.

At the same time, Israel's War Minister, Israel Katz, prohibited the application of administrative detention against Jewish settlers who attack Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. The measure occurred while administrative detention continued to be applied against Palestinians.

The UN Human Rights Council, Amnesty International, B'Tselem, and Palestinian rights organizations have documented allegations of rape and sexual torture against Palestinians detained by Israel. According to these organizations, these practices have intensified since the beginning of the genocide in Gaza in 2023.