DaysofPal— New information has revealed that Israeli occupation has buried the body of a Palestinian child from Jerusalem in so-called numbered graves months after withholding it, which the rights groups describe as part of an ongoing policy of retaining the bodies of Palestinians killed in conflict.
According to local Jerusalem sources, the Israeli occupation informed the lawyer of the family of 14-year-old Wadie Shadi Alian, from the town of Jabal al-Mukabber, that his body had been buried approximately six months ago.
In its response to a legal petition filed by the family seeking the return of the body, Israeli prosecutors stated that the burial took place on October 29, 2025.
The decision was reportedly based on a prior ruling by the Israeli Supreme Court in August 2025, allowing continued withholding of the body.
The Wadi Hilweh Information Center, a Jerusalem-based rights group, said the burial was carried out secretly without informing the child’s family or their legal representatives.
The group added that the decision followed the same court ruling that approved the continued detention of the body after the child was killed in February 2024.
Alian was fatally shot by Israeli occupation forces on February 5, 2024, at the entrance to the town of Al-Eizariya, east of Jerusalem. Video footage circulated at the time appeared to show him being shot while on the ground.
The center reported that at least 30 bodies of Palestinians from Jerusalem remain withheld by Israeli occupation, including 10 minors under the age of 18. Alian, who was 14 at the time of his death, is believed to be the youngest among them.
The practice of burying withheld bodies in unmarked or “numbered” graves has long been a source of controversy, with Palestinian families and human rights organizations calling for the return of remains to allow for proper burial rites.
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