Israeli forces detain father of slain Palestinian whose body is still being withheld

Israeli forces raided the Jabal al-Mukabbir neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem in the predawn hours on Monday and detained lawyer and activist Muhammad Elayyan, whose son Bahaa was shot dead by Israeli forces in October while allegedly carrying out a stabbing and shooting attack, locals told Ma’an.

Bahaa was killed alongside another Palestinian after they attacked an Israeli bus with on Oct. 13, killing three Israelis with knives and a gun. His body, along with the bodies of seven other Palestinians killed while allegedly committing or attempting to commit attacks on Israeli targets are still being held by Israel.

Muhammad Elayyan has spearhead a movement by the families of slain Palestinians demanding that Israeli authorities return the bodies, staging protests, most recently held on Sunday in Hebron in the southern occupied West Bank.

He was present at demonstration last week at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem and outside of Israel’s Abu Kabir Institute of Forensic Medicine in Jaffa, where the bodies are being stored.

The Israeli Supreme Court ordered on May 5 the release of the bodies of Palestinians from Jerusalem currently being withheld by Israel, after family members appealed the court, but only one has been released since.

The Elayyan family home was first raided a week after the attack, and Israeli authorities issued a demolition order against the house in November as punishment. more

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