Local authorities reported uncovering 283 bodies in the mass grave within the courtyard of Nasser Hospital after the Israel Defense Forces withdrew from the area on April 7…reports Asian Lite News
An investigation by Sky News suggests Israel is likely responsible for the mass grave discovered at a hospital in Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis over the weekend.
Local authorities reported uncovering 283 bodies in the mass grave within the courtyard of Nasser Hospital after the Israel Defense Forces withdrew from the area on April 7.
Israel’s military dismissed claims of burying bodies there as “baseless” but confirmed that it had “examined” some bodies during a two-week operation at the hospital.
Analysis of satellite imagery and social media indicates that Palestinians buried their dead in mass graves during Israel’s siege of Nasser Hospital and that the IDF bulldozed these graves after taking control. Prior to the Israeli army’s takeover of the hospital compound in its full-scale operation in February, staff had been forced to bury hundreds of bodies in makeshift graves near the hospital’s main building due to the impossibility of reaching nearby cemeteries.
The IDF began exhuming and examining bodies buried in the compound based on intelligence sources indicating the presence of bodies belonging to Israeli hostages.
The army said the examination “was carried out respectfully while maintaining the dignity of the deceased. “Bodies examined, which did not belong to Israeli hostages, were returned to their place,” the IDF added.
However, Sky News’ Data and Forensic team discovered evidence indicating extensive damage to the sites caused by the army’s examination. Footage uploaded a few days after the IDF left Nasser Hospital showed significant destruction at the southeastern corner of the complex, where some of the mass graves had been dug.
Another video revealed that bulldozer operations in the area caused an arm to be visible, partially buried in a mound of earth.
Satellite images confirmed that the damage occurred while Israeli forces were occupying the complex between Feb. 15 and 22. The UN’s human rights chief expressed horror at the discovery and announced an investigation into claims that some of the bodies had their hands bound and were stripped of clothing.
Earlier last week, other mass graves were found at Al-Shifa, the largest medical facility in the coastal enclave. The discovery led the Hamas-run government to accuse Israel of digging the graves “to hide its crimes.”
Since the conflict began, with retaliatory acts toward Hamas fighters killing and kidnapping 1,200 Israelis, Tel Aviv has launched a bloody, full-scale operation into the Gaza Strip that has resulted in the deaths of over 34,000 people, mostly women and children.
UN demands investigation
The United Nations has called for an “independent, effective and transparent investigation” into the discovery of mass graves at two Gaza hospitals that were besieged and raided by Israeli troops this year.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said in a statement he was “horrified” by the scenes reported from both the Nasser and Al Shifa medical complexes in the besieged enclave.
“Given the prevailing climate of impunity, this should include international investigators,” Türk said. “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,” he added, referring to non-combatants.
A mass grave with 324 bodies was uncovered this week at the Nasser Medical Complex in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis by Gaza Civil Defense workers following the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the area.
Palestinian health workers recover buried bodies from a mass grave at the Nasser Medical Hospital compound in Khan Younis, Gaza, on April 21.
Col. Yamen Abu Suleiman, Director of Civil Defense in Khan Younis, alleged that some of the bodies had been found with hands and feet tied, “and there were signs of field executions. We do not know if they were buried alive or executed. Most of the bodies are decomposed.”
Previously, a Khan Younis Civil Defense spokesman and head of the search mission, Raed Saqr, told CNN that they are searching for the bodies of another 400 missing people after the Israeli military left on April 7.
“During the IDF’s operation in the area of Nasser Hospital, in accordance to the effort to locate hostages and missing persons, corpses buried by Palestinians in the area of Nasser Hospital were examined,” the Israeli military said, adding that the examination was done “exclusively in places where intelligence indicated the possible presence of hostages.”
Once it was determined that the bodies didn’t belong to the Israeli hostages, they “were returned to their place,” it said.
Hamas-led militants kidnapped more than 250 people from Israel during their attack on the country on October 7. There are 133 hostages from Israel in captivity there now, 35 of whom are believed to be dead.
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