Palestinians observed the National Day for Recovery of the Bodies of Palestinian and Arab Martyrs on Thursday as the number of Palestinian bodies held by Israel reached unprecedented levels, with Israeli estimates putting the figure at around 1,700.
Observed annually on August 27, the day highlights the decades-long struggle of Palestinian families to recover the bodies of relatives held in Israeli military morgues or buried in closed military cemeteries known as “graves of numbers.”
The issue has grown dramatically since the start of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023, with hundreds of unidentified bodies returned to Gaza while thousands of Palestinians remain missing.
The Palestinian Cabinet designated August 27 as a national occasion in 2008 to mobilise popular and legal efforts to determine the fate of missing Palestinians, recover detained bodies and return them to their families for burial.
799 documented names
The Palestinian National Campaign for the Retrieval of Martyrs’ Bodies and Disclosure of the Fate of the Missing, a non-governmental organisation, along with Palestinian prisoners’ institutions, said Israel is holding the bodies of 799 Palestinians whose identities have been documented.
Of them, 256 bodies are held in “graves of numbers,” 99 belong to Palestinian prisoners, 81 are children under the age of 18, and 10 are women.
Recent Israeli data highlights the gap between the number documented by Palestinian institutions and the estimated number of bodies being held.
On August 11, the Haaretz newspaper, citing two security sources, reported that Israel is holding 1,700 Palestinian bodies for use in potential prisoner or hostage-exchange deals, most of them from Gaza.
‘Graves of numbers’
Palestinians use the term “graves of numbers” to refer to closed Israeli military cemeteries where the bodies of Palestinians and Arabs have been buried without names. Instead, each grave is marked with a number linked to a file containing information about the person buried.
The practice in its best-known form dates to the late 1960s, and was expanded after the 1967 war. The cemeteries are located in closed military zones that families generally cannot visit.
Historically, the graves have held the bodies of Palestinians and Arabs, including Lebanese nationals.
Bargaining chip
Since 2015, Israel has expanded its policy of holding Palestinian bodies. In 2017, its security Cabinet approved retaining some bodies for use in future negotiations.
In September 2019, Israel’s Supreme Court authorised military authorities to hold Palestinian bodies under the 1945 Emergency Regulations, including for use in negotiations to secure the return of Israelis or their remains.
In 2020, the security Cabinet expanded the circumstances under which Palestinian bodies could be detained.
International law stance
International humanitarian law requires respect for the dead and their graves, and encourages efforts to facilitate the return of remains to their families, in accordance with customary international humanitarian law rules documented by the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Article 34 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions requires respect for the remains of people who died in connection with armed conflict or occupation, and urges their return when circumstances permit.
Gaza genocide exacerbates issue
Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza since October 2023 has significantly exacerbated the issue of detained bodies, with Israeli forces transferring hundreds of bodies from the enclave while thousands of Palestinians remain missing.
The National Campaign to Recover the Bodies said Israel had returned to Gaza, as of February 4 2026, the bodies of 930 Palestinians, in addition to 66 boxes containing human remains.
The remains included bodies that it said Israeli forces had taken during the war from cemeteries in Gaza and from the vicinity of the al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City.
Palestinian teams have faced difficulties identifying the bodies due to a lack of DNA-testing equipment and supplies, forcing them to rely on traditional methods and assistance from the families of those missing to identify the remains.
The National Campaign to Recover the Bodies and Palestinian prisoners’ institutions said on Wednesday that the number of detained bodies could rise as new information emerges and more victims are identified.
In Gaza, thousands of bodies also remain buried beneath the rubble of destroyed buildings.
Zaher al-Wahidi, director of the Health Information Unit at Gaza’s Health Ministry, said on August 20 that 7,400 bodies remain trapped under the rubble, with teams unable to reach and recover them.
Since a US-brokered ceasefire took effect on October 10 2025, Israeli occupation forces’ attacks have killed 1,303 Palestinians and injured 4,336, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Since October 2023, the Israeli army has killed more than 73,400 people and injured over 174,400 in its genocidal war on Gaza.
