JERUSALEM, September 8, 2016 (WAFA) – Israel released early Thursday and under strict conditions the corpse of a Palestinian after withholding it in a morgue for nine months, according to local sources.

Israeli police were deployed outside the Damascus Gate and Salah Eddin Street in East Jerusalem, where the corpse of Abdul-Mohsen Hassouna, 21, was handed over to his family for burial at an area cemetery.

The police reportedly cordoned the cemetery, blocked roads leading to it and preventing journalists and Palestinians from attending the funeral and burial.

Police imposed strict conditions for the burial, demanding that only 25 people attend the funeral, which should be held in the pre-dawn hours. The family also paid a bail of over $5,000 that will be forfeited if the family does not abide by the conditions.

Hassouna was shot dead on 14 December 2015 after he rammed his car into Israeli pedestrians in West Jerusalem causing injuries.

Police have been holding bodies of Palestinians killed in alleged attacks against Israelis that started in October of last year in morgues refusing to turn them over to their families for burial as a punishment to the families and community. Only recently did Israel begin releasing bodies under stringent conditions.

Hassouna was the last of the corpses held by Israel for Palestinians from East Jerusalem.

Israel is still holding 11 corpses of Palestinians from various West Bank areas. It had started earlier a process to release all the bodies of West Bank Palestinians but after releasing some it went back on its decision.

In addition to punishing families by withholding bodies of their dead members, Israel had also demolished family homes of several Palestinians involved in the attacks.

M.N./M.A.