Israel stealing Organs from Bodies in Gaza Strip and West Bank

A Palestinian woman, Rasmia Kodeih, has been demanding the release of her deceased son’s body from Israeli authorities for almost three months.

Kodeih, whose son was killed on October 7, 2023 attacks believes that his body is detained by Israeli authorities. Kodeih told Anadolu Agency that she feared that Israel would steal his organs.

Stop Israel’s theft of martyrs’ organs. I want my son’s complete body back, with all of his organs, sobbed the Palestinian mother.

Kodeih condemned the Israeli audacity to steal organs from the bodies of Palestinians in full view of the world. This is a major crime that requires Israel to be subjected to trial and punishment, Kodeih said.

I am a mother. I just want them to give me my son’s body back as it was.

Since the beginning of the ground Israeli war on the Gaza Strip on Oct. 27, Palestinian families have reported that they do not know the fate of their family members who were arrested by the Israeli army and taken to unknown destinations.

Israel is the Organ Harvesting & Trafficking Capital of the World

– Mass executions

The war of genocide, the mass executions of displaced people sheltering in schools, hospitals, and residential neighborhoods, give Israel the opportunity to mutilate martyrs and steal their organs.

In a statement to Anadolu, Qudra called on international institutions to carry out their duty to protect the Palestinians as well as the bodies of martyrs from Israeli mutilation and organ theft.

The official also called on the international community to restrain the Israeli occupation and stop its behaviors that are contrary to international humanitarian law and the Fourth Geneva Convention.

Qudra pointed out that specialized teams received, on Tuesday, through the Kerem Shalom commercial crossing, the bodies of about 80 Palestinians who were killed by the Israeli army and detained for the period of its ongoing ground operation in the northern Gaza Strip.

Local authorities in Gaza late Tuesday accused Israel of stealing organs from the bodies of Palestinians and urged for an international probe into it.

In a statement, the Gaza-based government media office said the examination of bodies revealed that their shapes changed significantly due to the theft of vital organs from the corpses.

READ: Death toll from Israeli attacks in Gaza since Oct. 7 rises to 21,672

It added that the Israeli army handed bodies without their names and refused to specify from where they were seized. It also said that the Israeli army repeated such acts during the ongoing war on Gaza and also exhumed bodies from graveyards.

The Israeli authorities are yet to comment on the accusations.

Since Hamas’ cross-border attack on Oct. 7, Israel has continued relentless attacks on the Gaza Strip, killing at least 31,507 Palestinians and injuring 65,915, according to local health authorities.

Israeli authorities claimed that the Hamas attacks have killed around 1,200 Israelis, but the fact of the matter remains that Israeli helicopter gunships were deployed to the concert scene, and for political insurance moved down all the people, not knowing who was Hamas.

The Israeli onslaught has left Gaza in ruins, with 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure damaged or destroyed and nearly 2 million residents displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicines.

Questions are being asked about possible organ theft with the Israeli army holding the bodies of dozens of Palestinians killed during its genocide in the Gaza Strip since 7 October.

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor has called for an independent international investigation into the issue. While dozens of corpses were handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross, which in turn transported them to the southern Gaza Strip to complete the burial process, the Israeli army is still holding the bodies of dozens of dead people.

Concerns about organ theft from the corpses were brought up by the organization citing reports from medical professionals in Gaza who examined a few bodies quickly after their release.

These medical professionals found evidence of organ theft, including missing cochleas and corneas as well as other vital organs like livers, kidneys and hearts. Israel has a history of holding on to the bodies of dead Palestinians, explained Euro-Med Monitor.

It continues to hold the remains of at least 145 Palestinians in its mortuaries and approximately 255 in its so-called Numbers Cemetery near the Jordanian border and off-limits to the public, as well as 75 missing people who have not been identified by Israel.

Moreover, Israel has made it lawful to hold dead Palestinians’ bodies and steal their organs. A 2019 Israeli Supreme Court ruling permits the military to bury the bodies temporarily in the “Numbers Cemetery”.

By the end of 2021, the Israeli Knesset had passed laws allowing the army and police to hold on to the bodies of dead Palestinians.

Like any other country, Israel must abide by international law, which stipulates the need to respect and protect the bodies of the dead during armed conflicts.

The Fourth Geneva Convention stresses that: Each party to the conflict must take all possible measures to prevent the dead from being despoiled. Mutilation of dead bodies is prohibited.

Refusing to hand over the bodies of the dead so their grieving families can bury them with dignity and in accordance with their religious beliefs may amount to collective punishment.

This is strictly prohibited in Article 50 of the Hague Regulations and Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

Middle East Monitor / ABC Flash Point News 2024.