Hussein Al-Sheikh, head of Palestinian Civil Affairs Commission, told the Voice of Palestine Radio that Israel agreed after extensive talks late on Sunday to hand over the remains it holds in secret cemeteries known as the Cemeteries of Numbers.

Israeli security sources confirmed that talks on the matter have been held but that no agreement had been reached.

Al-Sheikh said the remains would undergo DNA tests at the Palestinian Abu Dis Institute of Forensic Medicine in order to confirm their identities. He added that the PA would hold a formal ceremony to mark the transfer.

The minister added that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Palestinian leadership would participate in a mass prayer before the remains are handed over to the families in Palestinian territories or Arab countries.

The Palestinian national campaign to retrieve the martyrs’ bodies welcomed the move.

The Palestinian Minister of Detainees and Ex-detainees Issa Qaraqi' said that Israel holds remains of 317 Arab and Palestinian “martyrs” who were involved in military attacks against Israel.

Qaraqi' added that the Israeli authorities were holding them in four cemeteries — one on the Israel-Lebanon-Syria border, two in the Jordan Valley and the fourth near Tiberias Lake.

He added that the “detention of the martyrs’ remains in the Cemeteries of Numbers without proper burial is a punishment to their families.”

Qaraqi' added that “holding of the martyrs’ remains for many years strengthens doubts that Israel harvested their organs.”