Israeli minister blocks burial of slain Palestinians

Israel's internal security minister on Tuesday ordered police to stop handing over for burial the bodies of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces, defying a supreme court recommendation.

Gilad Erdan announced the decision on his official Facebook page, saying it was in response to a video showing a large crowd taking part in the funeral procession of Alaa Abu Jamal in occupied east Jerusalem.

Abu Jamal was shot dead by Israeli police in October after carrying out a car ramming attack in west Jerusalem.

In the funeral footage, the chanting mourners praise Abu Jamal as a "martyr".

"I was just shown the outrageous images from the funeral last night in east Jerusalem, in which the conditions set by the police were violated and the commitments made by the terrorist's family were broken," Erdan said.

"I instructed the police to stop returning the bodies of terrorists."

The video appeared to show that the rally was outside the cemetery gates and beyond the control of the family.

"Police said the family met the conditions it had been set, as only 40 people were allowed into the cemetery," Israeli news site Ynet reported.

Bereaved families would have to commit to burying their relatives at night, with a maximum of 40 mourners, and not allow funerals to become Palestinian nationalist demonstrations.

"The chanting was done outside while the body was being taken from the nearby mosque to the cemetery," it said.

Erdan's ministry has set conditions for the handover of bodies of Palestinian attackers.

Bereaved families would have to commit to burying their relatives at night, with a maximum of 40 mourners, and not allow funerals to become Palestinian nationalist demonstrations.

On May 5, the Israeli Supreme Court urged the police "to coordinate with the families and return the bodies of their sons before Ramadan," the holy Muslim month of fasting that begins in early June.

But its declaration was a recommendation rather than a mandatory ruling and Erdan claimed Tuesday that in any case the Palestinians had breached the rules.

"The terrorists' families lied to the court after they pledged to abide by the police demands," he wrote. "It's a shame the court believed them and pressured the police to return the bodies by Ramadan."

Rights groups Adalah and Addameer had petitioned the court on behalf of nine families whose relatives' bodies have been withheld by the security forces, some for more than six months.

Muslim custom demands that the dead be buried as soon as possible.