BICOM

Defence Minister Ehud Barak yesterday stopped the transfer of 84 Palestinian bodies to the Palestinian Authority on the grounds that it may affect any future deal involving the release of captured IDF soldier in Gaza, Gilad Shalit. Barak’s decision came after reports from news outlets yesterday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved a goodwill gesture to the Palestinians by releasing 84 bodies of Palestinian to the Palestinian Authority.

The Palestinian Authority appealed to the Israeli Defence Ministry two months ago, and the decision was made to release the bodies. Most of the bodies being transferred were terrorists who were responsible for suicide bombings between 1967 and 1997. “This decision is simply a humanitarian gesture. Israel does not take part in trafficking bodies so we have no problem transferring them to the Palestinian Authority,” sources in the Prime Minister’s Office said. Details of Netanyahu’s decision were finalised last week and the process of exhuming the bodies and identifying them was expected to take some time. Senior ministers and members of the cabinet were not updated on the government’s decision to transfer the bodies to the Palestinian Authority, which was stopped at the last minute by Defense Minister Ehud Barak once “the forum of seven” (the government’s top seven ministers) opposed the transfer.