Israel denies using bodies of slain Palestinians in university labs

Israel on Thursday denied allegations by Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh that it is using bodies of Palestinians killed by its troops in university medical school labs.

Israeli authorities keep corpses of Palestinians they allege were killed carrying out "terror" attacks, though often fail to provide evidence in this regard.

There are 104 bodies currently being held, the Jerusalem Legal Aid Center said in June.

Shtayyeh accused Israeli universities of using the bodies in medical labs on Monday.

"The occupation authorities are increasing the pain of the bereaved for the loss of their children by withholding their corpses," he was quoted as saying by official Palestinian news agency Wafa.

"We became aware that these corpses are being used in medical school laboratories in Israeli universities in flagrant violation of human rights and scientific values, principles and ethics."

Shtayyeh urged a boycott of the Israeli universities responsible by their counterparts abroad, saying Israel must be pressured to end the alleged abuses against dead Palestinians and return the bodies it holds.

But Israel's foreign ministry rejected the Palestinian premier's allegation.

"The Foreign Ministry expresses horror at the defamatory remarks, which constitute another expression of the continuing incitement by the Palestinian Authority against Israel," it said in a statement reported by The Times of Israel.

It claimed that this alleged incitement "encourages shedding of the blood of Israeli civilians".

While Israel rejected Shtayyeh's Monday allegation, reports in 2009 said that Israel had admitted to harvesting organs from corpses - including of Palestinians - without approval from their relatives.

Israel's army said this "activity" at the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute had "ended a decade ago and does not happen any longer", according to an article published on The Guardian's website at the time.