Defense Minister Ehud Barak made a final decision on Tuesday evening regarding the transfer of bodies of Hamas terrorists to the Palestinian Authority, and has ordered that no bodies of terrorists who committed attacks against Israeli citizens be transferred to the PA.
Earlier, Barak had suspended Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s instruction to transfer 84 bodies of terrorists to the Palestinian Authority, explaining the move might hurt efforts to free kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit.
Netanyahu’s announcement on Monday said the bodies would be handed over to the PA as a “goodwill” gesture towards the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins in August.
The terrorists whose bodies would have been transferred include some who have committed some of the most gruesome terror attacks against Israelis since 1967.
The list included, among others, the body of Hanadi Jaradat, the PA woman who blew herself up in Haifa’s Maxim restaurant in 2003, killing 21 people, as well as the bodies of Amar Ali Abdullah who carried out a suicide bombing operation in the Carmel market in Tel Aviv in 2004, and Abdullah Abdullah, who blew himself up in the Stage nightclub in Tel Aviv in 2005, killing four.
Barak reportedly ordered not to negotiate with the PA about returning the bodies of those three terrorists. In addition, he also instructed not to include terrorists who were residents of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip in future talks on handing over bodies of terrorists.
Barak’s decision was met with anger by the Palestinian Authority, which demanded that Israel return any terrorist bodies in its possession “regardless of their affiliation,” as senior PA official Hassan a-Sheikh was quoted as saying.