Why Is Israel Withholding Palestinian Militants' Bodies? Netanyahu Says Political-Security Cabinet Discussed Policy

Israel announced Sunday it would not return the bodies of Hamas militants who were killed during an attack against Israelis. The move aims to pressure the Palestinian Islamist group into returning the bodies of killed Israeli soldiers as well as missing civilians, Reuters reported.

Hamas has said it's holding two Israeli citizens as well as two Israeli soldiers who are believed to be dead after they were lost in action while fighting in the 2014 Gaza War. Israel's political-security cabinet said Sunday's decision would set a precedent for a permanent policy for dealing with the remains of Hamas militants.

"The security cabinet discussed ways to effect the return of fallen soldiers and of civilians held in the Gaza Strip ... and decided that [the bodies of militants] should be buried, rather than returned," a statement from the cabinet read, via Reuters.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reaffirmed the decision Sunday on Twitter. "The political-security cabinet discussed standing policy on treatment of the bodies of Hamas terrorists killed during terror attacks and decided that they will not be returned but will be buried," he posted, via Agence France-Presse (AFP).

There were no further details released about the plans for burial. Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum told AFP the decision from Israel was "evidence of criminality and barbaric occupation."

"These decisions will not give positive results," he added, while not elaborating further.

Returning the bodies of the fallen soldiers "has remained a hot-button issue in Israeli society," with the families of the soldiers — Staff Sgt. Oron Shaul and Lt. Hadar Goldin — making calls for the government to take a harsher stance toward Hamas, reported the Times of Israel. The outlet reported that Hamas released a video Saturday showing a mock birthday party for Shaul. The video showed a cake that read "three years in Hamas jail," according to Israeli news site YNet News.