RAMALLAH: Israeli authorities on Thursday handed over the body of a Palestinian prisoner who died in custody in March. However, they continue to withhold the remains of 99 others, according to Palestinian prisoner advocacy groups.

Marwan Fathi Harzallah, from Al-Ein refugee camp in Nablus in the occupied West Bank, died on March 28 at Megiddo Prison in Israel, two months after his arrest on allegations of incitement, the official Palestinian WAFA news agency reported.

The advocacy organizations accused Israeli authorities of denying Harzallah necessary medical treatment as part of a pattern of “systemic violations against prisoners,” and held the administration responsible for his death.

They also condemned the refusal to return bodies of the dead as a practice that prevents families from mourning and burying their relatives, and called for international intervention to secure the return of the remains and help clarify the fate of missing detainees.

After Harzallah’s remains were returned, the organizations said, Israel continued to withhold the bodies of 99 Palestinians who died in custody, including 88 who died since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023.

They represent part of a broader total of hundreds of Palestinian bodies held by Israeli authorities, the advocates said, while the fates of dozens of other detainees from Gaza remain unknown.

International and Palestinian rights groups have repeatedly raised concerns over conditions in Israeli detention facilities, including reports of torture, medical neglect, other forms of mistreatment and restrictions on access to legal representation.

In a separate development on Thursday, an Israeli military court sentenced a Palestinian prisoner to life imprisonment, bringing the total number of Palestinians serving life terms in Israeli prisons to 119, according to the Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, and the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society.

Nazmi Abu Bakr, 55, from Yabad, southwest of Jenin, was sentenced by the Salem Military Court after being convicted of killing a soldier during a raid on Yabad by the Israeli military, and ordered to pay 4.5 million shekels ($1.5 million) in compensation.

Khaled Mahajneh, a lawyer with the commission, said the sentencing followed nearly six years of detention and 85 court hearings.

The two prisoner advocacy organizations alleged that Abu Bakr had been subjected to torture and interrogation at Al-Jalameh detention center, denied access to legal counsel during the initial stage of questioning, and held in solitary confinement. He had consistently denied the charge against him, they said.

The organizations criticized the Israeli military court system on the grounds that it failed to provide Palestinian detainees with adequate guarantees of a fair trial, and called for accountability over alleged violations of prisoners’ rights.