PA PM libels Israel, claims use of bodies of dead terrorists in Israeli universities’ faculties

PA PM libels Israel, claims use of bodies of dead terrorists in Israeli universities’ medical faculties

PA Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh: “The occupation authorities are increasing the pain of those who are hurting over the loss of their sons by holding the Martyrs’ bodies, and it has become clear to us that these bodies are used in Israeli universities’ medical faculties.

[Official PA TV News, July 4, 2022]

Bodies of dead terrorists - In certain instances, Israel does not release the bodies of dead terrorists for burial by their families. There are three main reasons for this practice: First, the measure is seen as a deterrent since the fear of not receiving a proper burial as a “Martyr” or of leaving suffering parents behind may discourage potential terrorists. Second, since 2014 the Hamas terror organization has refused to release the bodies of 2 Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza, and it is also holding 2 Israeli civilians who strayed into Gaza in captivity - the bodies of the terrorists are thus held to facilitate negotiations for their return to Israel. Third, in some instances the bodies of terrorists are not released in order to prevent disturbances of the peace and incitement during the funerals.

There has been no documented case of misconduct with bodies of Palestinians in medical faculties at Israeli universities. 

Organ theft - Acting Director-General of the PA Ministry of Justice’s Forensic Medicine Administration Dr. Ashraf Al-Qadi has refuted the PA libel that Israel steals organs from dead Palestinians: “All the Martyrs we have checked and seen, none of them had any theft of their organs. I don’t know about the Martyrs from before, whom we did not check as a Palestinian side or authority.” [Official PA TV, Good Morning Jerusalem, March 11, 2022]
Like other PA libels, this libel contains a grain of truth that the PA has distorted into a lie.
In 2001, an Israeli investigative journalist exposed that from the years 1988 to 2000, in violation of Israeli law, doctors at the Abu Kabir Institute of Forensic Medicine had taken body parts for research and transplants of skin and corneas without permission from the relatives. Most body parts were taken from Israeli Jews, but also from Israeli Arabs, Israeli soldiers and Palestinian terrorists. At the time, the institute was run by Professor Yehuda Hiss who was personally involved in the scandal. Hiss was removed from his position as director but remained as chief pathologist until later investigations uncovered that he had continued his misconduct, which led to his dismissal from the Institute by the Ministry of Health in May 2012. There has been no documented case of Israeli organ theft since then.