ISSN: 0022-1198
CODEN: JFSCA
Page Count: 5

Suicidal Terrorist Bombings in Israel—Identification of Human Remains
Hiss, J
Director of Biology Lab and professor and director of Institute, L. Greenberg Institute of Forensic Medicine,

Freund, M
Director of Biology Lab and professor and director of Institute, L. Greenberg Institute of Forensic Medicine,

Kahana, T
Chief inspector and forensic anthropologist, Division of Identification and Forensic Science, Israel National Police Headquarters,

(Received 20 May 1996; accepted 5 August 1996)

Abstract

Positive identification of human remains is one of the most important tasks in mass disaster investigations. Religious and jurisdictional demands in Israel, require the identification process to be completed in the shortest possible time. In the 18 suicidal terrorist bombings that took place in Israel between the years 1993–1996, 127 victims and 19 perpetrators were killed, and their severely fragmented bodies were identified within 24 h. The efficient completion of the identification endeavor was enabled by the implementation of a variety of techniques and the close collaboration in the investigation between the different emergency and forensic agencies. This paper presents the mass disaster identification policy and techniques currently used in Israel. The importance of an interdisciplinary approach for the identification of extremely fragmented human remains from mass disasters and the creation of a central data bank of fingerprints and genetic markers is emphasized.

Keywords:
forensic science, identification of human remains, suicidal bombing, mass disaster management policy

Paper ID: JFS14107J
DOI: 10.1520/JFS14107J
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