RAMALLAH, (Palestine Foundation Information Center), After nearly nine months of withholding his body, Israeli occupation authorities on Thursday returned the body of 15-year-old Jadallah Jihad Juma Jadallah to his family. His body was brought back to Al-Far’a refugee camp, south of Tubas, where he will be laid to rest after his family endured a long wait following his killing.
Jadallah was killed on Nov. 16, 2025, after being shot by Israeli forces during a raid on Al-Far’a refugee camp. His body was subsequently withheld. According to Palestinian sources, ambulance crews were prevented from reaching him at the time before he was pronounced dead and his body was taken by Israeli forces.
The decision to return his body followed a legal process that began in March 2026, when attorney Mohammad Abu Sneineh, representing the National Campaign for the Retrieval of Palestinian Martyrs’ Bodies and the Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center, filed a petition with the Israeli Supreme Court demanding the return of his body.
Jadallah’s case extends beyond his family’s long-awaited ability to bury him. His return comes as the number of Palestinian bodies withheld by Israel continues to grow, with hundreds still being held, including the bodies of children, women and Palestinian prisoners who died in Israeli prisons.
According to the latest figures from the National Campaign for the Retrieval of Palestinian Martyrs’ Bodies and Palestinian prisoners’ organizations, Israel was withholding the bodies of 799 identified Palestinians as of August 2026. The figure includes 256 bodies held in what are known as “cemeteries of numbers,” 99 bodies of Palestinian prisoners, 81 children and 10 women.
The documented figure, however, does not represent the full number of Palestinian bodies being withheld. Data reported by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz cited Israeli estimates indicating that about 1,700 Palestinian bodies are being held, most of them from the Gaza Strip, with the identities of many remaining unknown.
Palestinian human rights organizations say the widening gap between the documented figure and the estimated overall number is partly due to the large number of bodies taken from the Gaza Strip during the war, as well as difficulties identifying some of them.
Israel’s policy of withholding Palestinian bodies is not new. The issue of the so-called “cemeteries of numbers” dates back decades, with Palestinians buried in secret military sites and identified by numbers instead of their names. Israel’s war on Gaza, however, has brought the issue back on a far greater scale, as the number of withheld bodies has risen while thousands of Palestinians remain missing.
In Jadallah’s case, nine months of waiting encapsulate one part of the suffering endured by Palestinian families whose loved ones have been killed. Death does not necessarily bring an end to their loss. Even the date of burial can remain uncertain, leaving families waiting for information about a loved one’s body, a decision ordering its return or the outcome of a legal process that can drag on for months.
Today, the Palestinian teenager’s body returns to Al-Far’a refugee camp and his family can finally lay him to rest. Hundreds of other Palestinian families, however, continue to wait for the same right, while the withholding of Palestinian bodies remains one of the most complex humanitarian and legal issues confronting them.
