PRESS RELEASE

After Years of Holding Them Hostage

Israel Releases Two Bodies Today

Published on 29 January 1997 @ 10.00 GMT

After over two years of efforts by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, Israel released the bodies of Hassan Abbas and Salah Jadallah at approximately 13.00 (local time) today, 29 January 1997. The release of the bodies was secured by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, which had been granted power of attorney by the families of Abbas and Jadallah, and by the Israeli human rights organisation Hamoked.

Hassan Mahmoud Issa Abbas, born 1975 and resident of Gaza City, had participated in a military operation in western Jerusalem on 9 October 1994 and was killed by Israeli military forces. Salah Jadallah Hassan Salim, born 1972 and resident of the Sheikh Radwan district of Gaza City, participated in the kidnapping of the Israeli soldier, Nahshon Waxmann. Under orders from Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Israeli soldiers attacked the location in which Waxmann was being held in the town of Beir Nebala, between Ramallah and Jerusalem, on 14 October 1994. During the IDF attack, the hostage and the kidnappers, including Salah Jadallah, were killed.

Israeli authorities refused to release the bodies of Abbas and Jadallah, and instead stated that the bodies would not be released until the discovery and return of the body of Elan Sa’adon, an Israeli soldier kidnapped and killed by Hamas.

Hamoked and PCHR petitioned the High Court of Israel in order to secure the release of the two bodies. However, on 12 February 1995, the High Court, in an unprecedented decision, upheld the view of the Israeli Government that the release of the bodies could be linked to the discovery and release of the body of Elan Sa’adon.

In late July 1996, the body of Sa’adon was discovered. As a result, PCHR wrote to the Israeli authorities seeking release of the bodies. This was followed, on 27 August 1996, by a letter from PCHR and Hamoked to General Oren Shahor, the Israeli Government Coordinator in the Occupied Territories. The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights has coordinated with the Palestinian National Authority to arrange the safe transfer of the bodies from the Israeli military authorities to the families.