NABLUS, West Bank, (AFP) - A Palestinian minister on Tuesday accused Israel of trafficking the organs of Palestinians, after a similar claim by a Swedish newspaper triggered a diplomatic row. Israel is hiding the bodies of Palestinian martyrs to remove the proof of their crimes, including organ trafficking, Prisoner Affairs Minister Issa Qaraqae said. He spoke at a rally held in the West Bank city of Nablus to demand the return to their families of bodies of dozens of Palestinians killed by the Israeli military. Arab-Israeli MP Mohammed Barakei challenged Israel to disprove the claim. It is our right to ask ourselves what Israels reasons are for keeping the bodies of martyrs, he said at the demonstration marking the national day for the restitution of martyrs bodies decreed by the Palestinian government. Have the bodies been mutilated? My answer is yes, barring proof to the contrary. Have their organs been stolen? My answer is yes, barring proof to the contrary, Barakei said. Palestinian NGOs say Israel is holding the bodies of about 275 Palestinians. Last month Swedens Aftonbladet claimed that Israeli soldiers had snatched Palestinian youths to steal their organs, but the author of the report admitted he had no proof of this. Israel angrily rejected the claims, comparing them to medieval blood libels against Jews. In Jerusalem, an Israeli human rights group said Israels Gaza offensive killed 1,382 Palestinians, with more than half of them, including 320 minors, not having taken take part in the fighting. BTselem said 773 of the Palestinians killed in the January-December offensive did not take part in the hostilities, a figure that contrasts sharply with the Israeli military claim that most of the casualties were activists. BTselem said 252 children under the age of 16 and 111 women were among those killed, while the military put the figures at 89 and 49, respectively. Sixty-eight Palestinians aged 16 to 18 who did not take part in the fighting were among the fatalities, which also included 19 minors in the same age group who took direct part in the hostilities, the rights group said. It said 248 of the Palestinians fatalities were police officers, most of them killed when police stations were bombed on December 28, the first day of the three-week offensive. The BTselem report said Palestinians killed nine Israelis, including three civilians, while another four soldiers were killed by friendly fire. In Geneva, a UN think-tank said the Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip in December and January caused four billion dollars of losses to the Palestinian economy. Overall, the losses represent three times the size of the Gaza economy, said Mahmud Elkhafif, coordinator of the UN Conference and Trade and Developments (UNCTAD) assistance programme for the Palestinians. Initial estimates put the economys direct and indirect losses at around $4b, including the costs associated with cushioning the humanitarian impact of the military campaign of around one billion dollars, UNCTAD said in a report. Some $88m was wiped off GDP due to the halt in economic activity alone in Gaza, it said. Direct losses, including damage to infrastructure, public buildings, power and water supplies, as well as lost raw material stocks could reach $2.5b, it added. Although real gross domestic product was in positive territory with two per cent growth, GDP per head fell by 1.2pc, it added. The report noted that the closures deepened Palestinian economic dependence on Israel.