- The High Court ordered the Israel Defense Forces not
to remove the bodies of Palestinians killed in fighting in the Jenin refugee
camp until a hearing is held on the matter.
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- The decision came in response to a petition presented
by attorney Jamil Dakaur from the "Adala" organization.
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- A three-judge panel will discuss the issue Sunday morning.
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- The Court also ordered the State Prosecutor to respond
to charges that the IDF buried the bodies in a huge mass grave, as Palestinian
sources claimed Thursday, and if so, why.
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- The sources said that the army used bulldozers to cover
them up, Palestinian sources said Thursday. The army vehemently denied
the allegations.
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- Signers to the petition - which also included the "Kanon"
non-profit organization, MK Mohammed Barakeh (Hadash) and MK Ahmed Tibi
(Ta'al-Arab Movement for Renewal) - made the request after Ha'aretz reported
that the IDF intended to bury those identified by the army as terrorists
in a special cemetery for fallen enemy troops in the Jordan Valley.
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- The IDF said that the bodies of Palestinian civilians
killed in the fighting would be taken to the hospital in Jenin and later
buried.
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- According to Tibi, removing the bodies from the city
is a violation of international law and is intended to hide the truth from
the public about the killing that occurred there.
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- Soldiers had been removing bodies since Thursday and
plans were to continue to do so.
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- IDF chaplain says bodies can be removed on Sabbath IDF
Chaplain General, Major General Rabbi Israel Weiss ruled Friday that there
was no religious reason to stop the removal of the bodies during the Sabbath.
The military rabbinate deals with the removal of bodies after they are
located. The army estimates that there are still 100 to 200 bodies in the
camp.
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- The argument for Weiss's decision was that leaving the
remains where they are poses a danger to IDF soldiers. Therefore, they
can be removed even if it entails working on the Sabbath. Military sources
said that the IDF had not begun any efforts to bury the bodies.
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- Two companies of Golani troops carried out systematic
searches of the camp Friday afternoon in an attempt to find bodies and
locate wanted Palestinians and weapons.
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- http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?it
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