File Photo: Bodies of Palestinians returned from Israel as part of the ceasefire deal are brought to Shifa Hospital, in Gaza City. AP
Most of the remains reportedly belong to Palestinians from Gaza who were abducted from the territory and detained by Israel on allegations of involvement in Hamas' October 2023 attack on Israel or of fighting Israeli occupation forces during Israel's genocidal war on Gaza. Many of those whose remains are being withheld are civilians, according to the report.
The continued withholding of the remains comes despite Hamas currently holding no Israeli captives, meaning the bodies are not being exchanged as part of an active prisoner-swap arrangement. Their continued detention nevertheless leaves open the possibility that Israel could use the remains as leverage in future negotiations.
Israel has long withheld the bodies of Palestinians killed in its wars on Gaza and raids in the occupied West Bank, using them as leverage in negotiations over prisoners and missing persons while preventing families from retrieving their loved ones for burial.
In October 2025, the Palestinian National Campaign for the Retrieval of Martyrs' Bodies and Disclosure of the Fate of the Missing said approximately 1,500 bodies belonging to Palestinians from Gaza were being held at Israel's Sde Teiman military facility. The latest Haaretz figure suggests that the number of Palestinian remains being held has since risen to approximately 1,700.
Israel has also withheld the remains of Palestinians killed in its attacks and raids, in some cases for years. In May 2024, Israel returned 50 bodies to Gaza while continuing to withhold more than 300 others, some for more than a year, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The withholding of the remains has continued alongside Israel's mass detention of Palestinians.
Since 7 October 2023, Israel has arrested thousands of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza. Palestinian prisoners' institutions have documented more than 18,000 arrests since the start of Israel's war on the strip.
About 9,400 Palestinians and other detainees were being held in Israeli prisons as of early July 2026, according to figures compiled by Palestinian prisoners' institutions from Israeli prison service data. The figure includes thousands held without charge or trial, while some Palestinians from Gaza remain held in military facilities outside the prison system.
The scale of detention has been accompanied by mounting evidence of torture, arbitrary detention, medical neglect, and other abuses against Palestinian prisoners.
The UN Human Rights Office verified at least 87 Palestinian deaths in Israeli custody between 7 October 2023 and 13 January 2026, including 55 Palestinians from Gaza, and documented concerns over torture, ill-treatment, denial of medical care, and restricted access for families and independent monitors.
In March 2026, the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) updated the tally, saying that the number of Palestinian prisoners who have died since the start of Israel's Gaza war had risen to 89 confirmed victims.
More than 3,500 Palestinians were being held under administrative detention as of early April 2026, according to Palestinian prisoners' institutions. Administrative detention allows Israel to imprison people without charge or trial and renew their detention indefinitely.
The UN Committee Against Torture and the International Criminal Court (ICC) have also cited Israel's treatment of Palestinians, including through proceedings and arrest warrants against Israeli officials Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Multiple human rights groups, including Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem, have said abuses against Palestinian detainees amount to war crimes and have called for accountability under international law.
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