A year and a half of detention... the Supreme Court approves keeping the body of the child, Wadi’ Alayan, as a political hostage
The Israeli occupation authorities continue to detain the bodies of Palestinian martyrs in refrigerators or "numbers cemeteries," in flagrant violation of international law, including the denial of Palestinians their basic rights even after death.
Recently, the Israeli Supreme Court upheld the decision to continue detaining the body of 14-year-old Wadi’ Shadi Alayan, a Jerusalemite boy who was killed on February 5, 2024, by Border Police fire at the entrance to the town of Eizariya, east of Jerusalem. Video footage showed him being shot while lying motionless on the ground after being hit by the first bullet.
“Adala Center” explained that the court accepted the state's position that the child's body could be withheld for use in future negotiations within prisoner exchange deals. The court based its decision on classified material submitted by the state and acknowledged the military commander's authority to issue orders to temporarily withhold or bury the body.
The center added that the state justified before the court that withholding the body serves a "legitimate purpose" of seeking the return of Israeli prisoners and dead in Gaza, and claimed that Wadi's case does not fall within the exceptional circumstances that permit the release of the body, in accordance with a previous decision issued by the "Cabinet."
“Adala” filed a petition in July 2024 on behalf of Wadi's parents, asserting that withholding the body violates the right to dignity of the deceased and his family, a right guaranteed by international humanitarian law and human rights law, and disregards the Supreme Court's own case law.
During the court session on July 3, 2025, Attorney Nariman Shehadeh-Zoubi emphasized that withholding the body for a year and a half represents a grave violation of the family's rights and an insult to the child's dignity after his death. She considered the state's reliance on the "British Emergency Regulations of 1945" to justify this measure invalid and unjustified.
According to the Wadi Hilweh Information Center in Jerusalem, the occupation authorities have been withholding the bodies of 29 Jerusalemite martyrs (who held Israeli ID cards), the oldest of whom has been withheld since October 2016.
They are:
1. Martyr Mesbah Abu Sbeih; since October 2016
2. Martyr Fadi Al-Qunbar; since January 2017
3. Martyr Aziz Aweisat; since May 2018
4. Martyr Shaher Abu Khadija; since May 2021
5. Martyr Zuhdi Al-Taweel; since May 2021
6. Martyr Fadi Abu Shkheidem; since November 2021
7. Martyr Karim Jamal Al-Qawasmi; since March 2022
8. Martyr Uday Al-Tamimi; since October 2022
9. Martyr Amer Halabiya; since November 2022
10. Martyr Khairy Alqam; since January 2023
11. Martyr Hussein Qaraqe; since February 2023
12. Martyr Ishaq Al-Ajlouni; since June 2023
13. Martyr Khaled Al-Za’anin; since August 2023
14. Martyr Ali Al-Abbasi; since October 2023
15. Martyr Abdel Rahman Faraj; since October 2023
16. Martyr Khaled Al-Muhtaseb; since October 2023
17. Martyr Adam Abulhawa; since October 2023
18. Martyr Mohammad Omar Al-Farroukh (minor); since November 2023
19. Martyr Murad Nimer; since November 2023
20. Martyr Ibrahim Nimer; since November 2023
21. Martyr Ahmad Alayan; since December 2023
22. Martyr Wadi’ Alayan; since February 2024
23. Martyr Fadi Jamjoum; since February 2024
24. Martyr Nour Nizar Shihabi, since May 2024
25. Mohammad Ghaleb Shihab, since July 2024
26. Shadi Shiha; since August 2024
27. Sami Al-Amoud; since October 2024
28. Omar Shweiki; since October 2024
29. Mohammad Abu Libdeh; since May 2025
