Israel’s Supreme Court allows continued withholding of 14-year-old Palestinian child Wadia Elyan’s body, to use as bargaining chips in future negotiations with Hamas
Last week, on 31 July 2025, Israel’s Supreme Court upheld the state’s continued withholding of the body of Wadia Shadi Sa’d Elyan, a 14-year-old Palestinian boy and resident of East Jerusalem, who was killed by Israeli forces on 5 February 2024 - one year and a half ago - near the Israeli settlement of Ma’ale Adumim in the occupied West Bank.
CLICK HERE to read the (Hebrew) decision
According to Israeli authorities, Wadia was shot during an alleged stabbing attempt against an Israeli police officer. However, video footage shows him being shot from behind while fleeing the scene. The family further submitted additional video footage to the court showing what appears to be a second, fatal shooting while Wadia lay motionless on the road, unable to move. Since his killing, Israeli authorities have withheld his body, refusing to return it to his family for burial.
Despite Wadia’s young age, and the circumstances of his killing, the Supreme Court accepted the state’s position that his body could continue to be held as a bargaining chip for future negotiations for prisoner exchange deals with Hamas. The Court cited classified evidence presented by the state and ruled that the military commander has the authority to order the continued withholding of Wadia’s remains and to authorize his temporary burial.
In a petition filed in July 2024 on behalf of Wadia’s parents, Adalah argued that the ongoing withholding of Wadia’s body is unlawful under both Israeli and international law, and violates the right to dignity of both the deceased and his family. This right is enshrined in international humanitarian law, international human rights law, and Israeli Supreme Court rulings. Withholding the body of a deceased individual from his or her family violates several international conventions, incuding the International Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhumane and Degrading Treatment or Punishment, to which Israel is a State Party. Indeed, the United Nations Committee Against Torture called on Israel in June 2016 to take all necessary steps to return bodies to families for burial as soon as possible. The UN Human Rights Committee, which monitors implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, in its 2022 concluding observations, expresses concern that “the practice of withholding the bodies of the deceased and denying the right of their families to bury them may amount to collective punishment and to torture and ill-treatment (arts. 6 and 7),” and called on Israel to immediately return the bodies of deceased Palestinians to their families (para. 32 and 33).
CLICK HERE to read the petition
During the Supreme Court hearing on 3 July 2025, Adalah Attorney Nareman Shehadeh-Zoabi emphasized that the year and a half-long withholding of Wadia’s body constitutes a grave violation of the family’s rights and the child’s dignity in death. Adalah further argued that the state’s reliance on the British Mandate-era Emergency Regulations of 1945 to justify the continued withholding of his body is legally unfounded.
This practice reflects a broader pattern by Israeli authorities of withholding Palestinian bodies—including those of Palestinian citizens of Israel and residents of occupied East Jerusalem—as bargaining chips in negotiations. According to Defense for Children International – Palestine, as of February 2025, Israel is withholding the bodies of more than 45 Palestinian children, denying families the ability to bury their loved ones according to their religious and cultural customs. Furthermore, according to the Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center (JLAC), as of May 2025, Israeli authorities are withholding a total of 668 Palestinian bodies.
Adalah condemns in the strongest terms the Israeli Supreme Court’s decision to greenlight the continued withholding of the body of 14-year-old Wadia Elyan. By endorsing the use of a deceased child’s body as a bargaining chip in political negotiations, the Court entrenches a grave violation of international law and basic humanity. This decision normalizes brutal policies that dehumanize Palestinians, deny children respect in death, and inflict profound suffering on their families.
Related Press Releases and Reports
Israeli cabinet declares: We won’t return bodies of Palestinians to their families for burial, 2 September 2020
Israeli Supreme Court reverses earlier ruling, authorizes Israel to hold bodies of Palestinians as bargaining chips, 9 September 2019
See report by the Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center, The Warmth of our Sons-jlac
