RAMALLAH, February 28, 2017 (WAFA) – The Israeli prosecutor called on the Supreme Court to reject a petition by Palestinian rights groups demanding that the Israeli authorities free corpses of six Palestinians shot dead by Israeli forces in the last year and which it has been holding since then.

A statement by the National Campaign for the Retrieval of Palestinian and Arab Victim’s Bodies held by Israel said on Tuesday that the prosecutor asked the court to dismiss the petition filed by the Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center (JLAC) and the Prisoners‘ Affairs Commission on ground that the Israeli security cabinet had frozen release of corpses of Palestinians and link any further release to trade with bodies of Israeli soldiers held by Hamas in Gaza.

Israel has been holding the corpses for months with the longest since April 20 of last year.

The Palestinian group denounced Israel for using the corpses for political ends, totally disregarding the feelings of their families who want their children back to give them a proper burial at home.

M.K.