What happened during the Israeli siege on a Gaza hospital? The UN urges to investigate mass graves
In a relentless search that appears to have no end, Gaza authorities have been uncovering decomposing bodies in the vicinity of Nasser’s hospital, located in the southern city of Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip. With the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the area, local investigators have been able to conduct a thorough sweep of the land, leading to the discovery of three mass graves containing at least 392 bodies. Shockingly, some of the victims were found with their hands and feet bound and had suffered gunshot wounds, raising the possibility of executions being carried out.
Yemen Abu Suleiman, the colonel of the investigating team, has expressed uncertainty regarding whether the victims were buried alive or killed before being buried, as most of the bodies have already begun decomposing. Among the deceased individuals found, there were elderly people, women, children, and even bodies dressed in blue gowns, potentially indicating that they were medical staff or patients from the hospital. So far, only 165 of the bodies have been identified, and the Gaza Civil Defense, a branch of the security forces, has formally requested the United Nations to investigate this case as a war crime.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, has condemned the intentional killing of civilians, detainees, and non-combatants, referring to it as a war crime. Türk expressed his horror at the evidence of this case and emphasized the need for international investigators to be involved, given the prevailing climate of impunity. In response, the United Nations has called for an independent, effective, and transparent investigation. However, accessing the Gaza Strip for investigations is currently hindered by the Israeli blockade in place since 2007, requiring approval from Tel Aviv for any entry into the enclave. Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesperson for the UN Secretary General, stressed the importance of preserving all forensic evidence and acknowledged the challenges that independent organizations face in investigating mass graves.
The International Rescue Committee (IRC), an international healthcare organization, has joined the international community in demanding an investigation into the mass graves. The IRC expressed devastation over the reports of bodies found at Nasser Hospital and confirmed their concerns during the war that those remaining at the hospital were at risk of serious harm. They fear that the health workers and patients they had lost contact with may be among those killed.
Israel has denied the accusations of burying bodies during their offensive on the health center, deeming them baseless. The Israeli Army claims that while searching for the 133 hostages held by Hamas, they discovered bodies in the hospital area, which were later returned to their original burial site after determining they were not the Israeli hostages they were searching for.
This discovery follows a similar incident earlier this month when civil defense workers found 381 bodies in several mass graves surrounding Al Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s largest hospital complex. The World Health Organization (WHO) had the opportunity to access the hospital after the Israeli siege ended and described the state of the center as severely damaged, with most of the buildings reduced to empty shells and equipment rendered unusable. The WHO also expressed concerns about the presence of numerous shallow graves and partially buried corpses with visible limbs. The Euro-Med human rights observatory has reported the discovery of over 2,500 buried bodies in 15 different locations in the Strip since October.