RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Israeli officials confirmed Saturday they successfully returned the remains of a 14-year-old Palestinian after mistakenly handing back a different corpse to the teenager’s family the previous evening. Amjad Abu Sultan was killed last month while allegedly throwing firebombs in the occupied West Bank.
About a dozen Palestinians chanting “greeting to the martyr” gathered around the body after it was handed over to the Palestinian side at an Israeli military checkpoint near the West Bank city of Bethlehem. They wrapped the remains with Palestinian flag and an ambulance carried the body away.
Friday’s error, described by the army as an “unfortunate mistake,” sharpened focus on Israel’s controversial policy of withholding remains of Palestinians killed while allegedly carrying out attacks. Israel says the policy serves as a deterrent for future attacks and leverage for prisoner exchanges, while rights groups said the action is a form of collective punishment inflicted on grieving families.
Israel agreed to return the bodies of Abu Sultan and Isra Khazimia Friday citing “humanitarian grounds.” Abu Sultan was a minor when he committed his alleged attack while Isra Khazimia was reported to have had mental health issues.
Earlier Saturday, Amjad’s father told the Associated Press the family notified the army of the mistake upon receiving the body at a checkpoint near Bethlehem.
“My son was 14 years old and the other body was that of a 30- or 40-year-old,” Ussama Abu Sultan said. The identity of the other body remains unknown.
In a statement issued Friday, the Israeli army apologized for its “unfortunate mistake” and said the error is being reviewed.
Abu Sultan, 14, was killed in October while attempting to throw firebombs at cars near an Israel settlement, the army said. Khazimia was shot dead by Israeli police in September after she allegedly attempted to stab an officer in Jerusalem’s Old City. Her body was buried Saturday in her family village of Qabatiya in the Northern West Bank.
Israel has a long record of trading prisoners and bodies with its enemies and has made clear its intentions to retrieve the remains of two Israeli soldiers held by the Palestinian militant group Hamas who rule the Gaza Strip.
Israel is currently withholding around 80 Palestinian bodies, according to the Palestinian rights group The Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center. With many eventually buried in unnamed gravies across a number of secret cemeteries, the rights group said they have been other cases where Israeli authorities struggled to locate or identify Palestinian bodies.