UN Confirms Mass Graves in Gaza with Victims’ Hands Tied, Calls for ‘Transparent Investigation’, Reigniting Concerns of ‘War Crimes’
US State Department says reports are "incredibly troubling" and it's inquiring about this with the Government of Israel
After distressing media reports surfaced regarding the discovery of mass graves in two major hospitals in Gaza following Israeli raids, confirmation comes from the United Nations that some victims had their hands tied and it is urging an "independent, effective, and transparent investigation."
According to U.N. rights chief Volker Turk he was ‘horrified’ at the destruction of the Nasser and Al Shifa medical facilities in Gaza, as well as the number of dead bodies uncovered there.
This development has reignited concerns of potential war crimes amidst the ongoing Israeli airstrikes.
“Hospitals are entitled to very special protection under international humanitarian law. And the intentional killing of civilians, detainees, and others who are hors de combat is a war crime,” said Turk.
Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, stated that the organization was sounding the alarm. "Some of them had their hands tied, which clearly indicates serious violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law. These incidents require further investigation."
Colonel Yamen Abu Suleiman, Director of Civil Defense in Khan Younis, confirmed to a media outlet that a total of 310 bodies were discovered at the Nasser Medical Complex alone. Based on his firsthand observations of overseeing the graves, he indicated signs of field executions.
He expressed uncertainty over whether they were buried alive or executed, due to the state of decomposition. “We do not know if they were buried alive or executed. Most of the bodies are decomposed.”
The Palestinian health ministry stated two other graves had been identified, but not yet excavated.
Palestinians Seek Deceased Family Members
Nada Bashir, reporting for CNN, shared the account of a mother searching for the remains of her 24-year-old child. She claimed that the Israeli military was responsible for turning the grave upside down, as they dug up all the dead bodies and rearranged them.
A man at the scene pointed to a fallen palm tree, explaining that his brother had been temporarily buried there. "I had buried him on the side, but now I can't find him. The Israelis dug up the bodies and swapped them. They did DNA tests and mixed up all the bodies," he said. The man's mother added that they had been searching for two weeks but still hadn't found his body.
A doctor on site also spoke to the journalist and accused Israeli forces of digging up these graves and mishandling the bodies of "our martyrs." He expressed concern that in some cases, they even opened and removed the bodies from their bags, even though "their names have been marked on them."
Bashir reported that this wouldn't be the first time graves were disturbed by the Israeli military. The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) had previously admitted to exhuming graves in Gaza to conduct DNA tests to identify potential hostages.
Israel Military Says Claims Are Baseless
The Israeli military refuted the claims made by Palestinian officials and family members and insisted the IDF had not executed or re-buried the dead, stating these accusations were "baseless and unfounded."
They did admit that while searching for Israeli hostages, they had inspected bodies previously buried by Palestinians near Nasser Hospital and returned them to their original burial sites after examination.
Raed Saqr, spokesman for Khan Younis Civil Defense and head of the search mission, said they are currently searching for the bodies of another 400 missing people following the departure of the Israeli military on April 7.
The US State Department has expressed concern over the mass graves.
State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel remarked, "The reports are incredibly troubling, and we're inquiring about this with the Government of Israel. I’m not going to speak to the specifics, but it should be no surprise to you that we engage with the government of Israel at all levels often many times, multiple times a day, at all hours.”
The ongoing Israeli conflict, now surpassing 200 days, has displaced 85 percent of Gaza's population, causing acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine. The UN reports that 60 percent of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed.
Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the rights situation in the Palestinian territories, recently asserted that there are reasonable grounds to believe that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
