Palestinians are pushing back against US President Donald Trump's fiery demand that Hamas return Israeli captives and bodies of those killed, reminding him that Israel has long been keeping hundreds of bodies of Palestinians — some for more than half a century.
In a social media post, Trump lashed out at Hamas, calling the resistance group members "sick and twisted" for holding onto the bodies of dead captives. His message was clear: return them or face destruction.
But his words have struck a nerve among Palestinians who say Israel has been doing worse for years, keeping hundreds of Palestinian bodies in morgues or burying them in secret graves, some marked only by numbers.
According to multiple media sources, Israel is holding 665 bodies, including those of 59 children. Some families have been waiting decades for their loved ones to be returned. Their grief lingers in an open wound, denied the closure of a proper burial.
Mustafa Erekat knows this pain well. His son Ahmed was shot and killed by Israeli forces in 2020. More than three years later, his body is still being held. "They have no right to keep my son," Erekat told AP then. "It is my right to give him a proper funeral."
Israeli officials say they keep Palestinian bodies as leverage — to deter attacks, to trade in future negotiations. In 2020, the government expanded this policy, deciding to withhold all Palestinian bodies killed in alleged attacks, not just those linked to Hamas.
The military rarely comments on the policy, but officials have previously defended it as necessary for Israel's security.
Benny Gantz, Israel's Defence Minister at that time, said that holding the remains deterred attacks and would help ensure the return of Israeli captives and remains.
Palestinians and human rights groups call it something else — collective punishment.
Omar Shakir of Human Rights Watch says Israel has turned "corpses into bargaining chips."
The Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Centre estimates that at least 82 Palestinian bodies are buried in secret military cemeteries, their graves identified only by numbers. Families are not told exactly where their loved ones are kept. They wait, sometimes for decades, hoping for a deal that will bring them home.
For many, that wait has stretched into a lifetime. Some bodies have been withheld since the 1970s. Parents have passed away without ever laying their children to rest.
The remains of Palestinians, often treated as bargaining tools in future negotiations, are kept in remote, restricted areas — sometimes buried in what are known as the "Cemeteries of Numbers."
These secret graves lie deep within closed military zones, concealed from public view, their occupants identified only by numbers rather than names.
One such burial ground, the Banat Yacoub Bridge Cemetery, sits within a heavily militarised zone at the convergence of the Palestinian, Lebanese, and Syrian borders.
It holds the remains of hundreds of Palestinians killed, their final resting places hidden behind layers of security, far from the reach of grieving families.
The bodies of at least 600 Palestinians continue to be held by Israeli forces as bargaining chips under a long-standing illegal Israeli practice that predates October 2023.
"The bodies of the deceased should never be treated as a battleground. All parties to the conflict have a clear obligation to respect and uphold the dignity of the living and the dead, including ensuring that bodies and remains are properly identified and handed over with dignity," said Erika Guevara Rosas, Senior Director for Research, Advocacy, Policy and Campaigns at Amnesty International.
Abo Sam, People's World correspondent, who reports from West Bank, writes in this feature: "Denying Palestinians the right to mourn their loved ones is another manifestation of the dehumanisation, brutality, and torment of millions under the occupation. The return of the bodies and remains of Palestinians to their homeland, allowing them to reunite with their families and receive proper burials, remains a crucial issue that deserves attention."
Trump’s words have only deepened Palestinian frustration. When he calls Hamas "sick and twisted" for withholding bodies, Palestinians ask: what does that make Israel?
