Netanyahu halts return of Palestinian terrorist bodies to their families

Israel believes these funerals fuel additional violence.

By TOVAH LAZAROFF
Palestinian gunmen in Shuafat carry weapons during a funeral march for a Palestinian terrorist, shot dead by police after stabbing two Israelis in Jerusalem’s Old City (photo credit: AMMAR AWAD / REUTERS)
Palestinian gunmen in Shuafat carry weapons during a funeral march for a Palestinian terrorist, shot dead by police after stabbing two Israelis in Jerusalem’s Old City
(photo credit: AMMAR AWAD / REUTERS)
The bodies of Palestinian terrorists will no longer be returned to their families.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday ordered Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon to stop such transfers.
Israel believes these funerals fuel additional violence.
Palestinians hold that these assailants are martyrs and have in the past held mass funerals for them in which their bodies are paraded on gurneys through their home villages or cities.
Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan has already held onto the bodies of Israelis Arabs residents of Jerusalem who have carried out such attacks.
Netanyahu’s order extends that policy to the West Bank.
Since mid-September, more than 120 Palestinians have been killed executing attacks against Israelis, that has claimed the lives of 34 victims including two Americans.