State Seeks 30-Day Extension to Respond to Petition on Withheld Bodies

The state asked the High Court of Justice on Sunday for a 30-day extension to submit its preliminary response to a petition seeking the return of the bodies of six Arab citizens of Israel withheld by the state. The petition, filed by Adalah on behalf of relatives of the deceased, asks the court to order the immediate release of the bodies for burial.

It argues that the justification previously relied upon by the state no longer applies following the return of the living and slain Israeli hostages in recent months. The original petition was filed on April 26. Justice Ofer Grosskopf ordered the state to submit a preliminary response by Sunday.

In its request, the state said it had sought additional factual clarifications from the respondents, along with input from other state officials. It added that more time was needed to formulate, approve, and file the response. The state asked the court to move the deadline to June 10.

The court has not yet issued a decision on the request.

Adalah attorney Salam Irsheid, representing the petitioners, opposed the extension. He said the families “strongly object” to the request. Irsheid argued that granting the extension would prolong the suffering of the families and continue preventing them from exercising “the most basic right” to bury their sons according to their religious beliefs.

“In these circumstances, there is no justification for an additional 30-day extension for the filing of a preliminary response,” Irsheid said. The petition challenges the continued withholding of bodies despite what it described as a total change in circumstances.