Israeli Press
Israel admits it lost the body of Gaza worker Raja Samour
Graphic: Times of Palestine
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The state of Israel has told its High Court that it cannot find the body of Raja Samour, a 46-year-old worker from Gaza who died in military detention, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported on Tuesday.
Samour held an Israeli work permit before October 7, 2023. When the war began he was locked up with some 4,000 other Gaza workers, first at Ofer prison, then at an army base at Anatot. A diabetic, he died there in circumstances the military police are still investigating.
When his family petitioned for his remains, the military rabbinate produced a body — and the forensic institute found it belonged to a man killed by gunfire, which Samour was not. The army and the state prosecution then conceded they do not know where his body is.
DNA samples were taken from his brother in Gaza through the Red Cross, and later from his children. The body has still not been found. The state acknowledged in court that its handling of the case revealed "a series of failures" the army intends to study.
The admission sits inside the file this paper reported Tuesday morning: roughly 1,700 Palestinian bodies held by Israel with no Israeli captive left to trade them for.
Two bodies are going home. The family of Alaa Sbeih, 28, shot dead in April near Tayasir by a soldier the army said was off duty, has been told his remains will be returned.
And Sami Jaasus of Lydd, 28, an Israeli citizen killed by a police officer in an incident police first called terrorism and later admitted was criminal, was buried this week — after a High Court petition, more than a month after his death.
