Gaza City, August 6 (RHC)-- Former Palestinian prisoners especially those who were freed in the prisoner swap deal with the Israeli regime in 2011, joined families of Palestinian prisoners in their sit-in at the Red Cross office in Gaza to slam Israel’s refusal to handover the bodies of fallen Palestinians.

Last week, Israeli forces shot and killed Hani Hassan Abu Salah east of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip and kept his body.  The Israeli regime currently keeps the remains of some 250 fallen Palestinians in morgues and secret burial sites.

It's widely believed that Tel Aviv will likely use the bodies of Palestinian martyrs as bargaining chips to release Israeli soldiers reportedly held by resistance factions in the Gaza Strip.  Observers say that keeping bodies of Palestinian victims is a gross violation of common decency, which is of little concern to a racist entity like Israel.

According to human rights organizations, holding bodies and remains of the dead contravenes the principles of international humanitarian law.   The illegal Israeli decision also complicates the possibility of holding a new prisoner swap deal between Hamas and the Israeli regime.