High Court orders IDF not to remove bodies from Jenin

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.

The decision came in response to a petition presented by attorney Jamil Dakaur from the "Adala" organization.

A three-judge panel will discuss the issue Sunday morning.

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.

The sources said that the army used bulldozers to cover them up, Palestinian sources said Thursday. The army vehemently denied the allegations.

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.

The IDF said that the bodies of Palestinian civilians killed in the fighting would be taken to the hospital in Jenin and later buried.

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.

Soldiers had been removing bodies since Thursday and plans were to continue to do so.