Israel opens organ theft hearing Israel's parliament has begun hearings on the theft of human organs from Palestinians, Israelis and foreign workers without their relatives' permission.
Israeli health officials testified on Wednesday that Israeli authorities harvested organs from the dead bodies of Israelis and Palestinians in the 1990s for transplant purposes.
The testimony came three days after the government admitted to the practice, following previous denials.
Al Jazeera's Sherine Tadros, reporting from Jerusalem, said Wednesday's hearing was not the first time Israeli officials have had to face difficult questions in parliament about the organ theft issue.
"What we tended to see in the past was officials trying to skirt around the issue, really not wanting to confirm or deny that organ theft took place," she said.
"What we had on Wednesday was a very public admission by an Israeli official that organ theft was in fact taking place.
"But the health ministry said it was a practice that happened in the past and is no longer a problem."
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/12/2009122315425789179.html