After 432 Days Israel Releases Mai Afana's Body For Burial

ALBAWABA - Dr Mai Afana can finally rest in peace. She was murdered by Israeli forces on 16 June, 2021 near the Hamza checkpoint which is to the north of occupied Jerusalem. Her body was withheld by the Israeli occupation forces for 432 days.  They finally released her corpse and handed it over to her family for burial. 

The social media is today rife with news and pictures of the release of the body. One of the most poignant photos is the one clearly showing Israeli soldiers laughing as they hand over the body to members of her family. How sick can you get is an understatement.

It is reported 29-year-old Afana, who was studying for her Phd in Muata University in Jordan was killed by Israeli soldiers while at Hizma military checkpoint driving to Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.

After her family received her body, large crowds participated in the funeral and burial of Afana in her hometown, Abu Dis east of occupied Jerusalem according to Wafa, the Palestinian news agency.

As a form of collective punishment, and which Israel uses as a bargaining chip, the Jewish occupation authorities have a long-standing policy of refusing to release the bodies of Palestinians who have been killed by its forces for burial by their families. Some of the bodies have been held for years, Wafa reports.

International human rights groups have repeatedly condemned Israel’s policy of withholding the bodies of Palestinians who are killed by Israeli gunfire. B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights group, considered this policy a violation of human dignity, adding that the policy is not only morally wrong but also undervalues Palestinians and their families.

Withholding bodies of dead Palestinians and not returning them to their families for proper burial is a cruel practice and a violation of international humanitarian law and United Nations Convention against Torture, said the Haifa-based Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel according to the Palestinian news agency.

Background to the full story of the murder of Mai Afana can be found in Albawaba.