Israel-Gaza war: UN ‘horrified’ by mass grave reports at hospitals, wants international probe into deaths
- On Monday, the Palestinian territory’s Civil Defence agency said health workers uncovered more than 200 bodies of people killed and buried at Nasser hospital
- Hospitals, which are protected under international law, have repeatedly come under Israeli bombardment over more than six months of war in Gaza.
The UN called on Tuesday for an international investigation into reports of mass graves at two Gaza hospitals destroyed in Israeli sieges, saying war crimes may have been committed.
The United Nations rights office said it was “horrified” by the destruction of Gaza’s biggest hospital, al-Shifa in Gaza City, and its second largest, the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis.
On Monday, the Palestinian territory’s Civil Defence agency said health workers had uncovered more than 200 bodies of people killed and buried at Nasser hospital, which was besieged by Israeli troops last month.
Israel’s military on Tuesday rejected the Palestinian allegations, and said it had exhumed corpses to try to find hostages taken by Hamas in October.
“The claim that the IDF [Israel Defence Forces] buried Palestinian bodies is baseless and unfounded,” the military said in a statement, adding that its forces returned bodies to where they had been buried, after they were examined.
“The examination was conducted in a careful manner and exclusively in places where intelligence indicated the possible presence of hostages. The examination was carried out respectfully while maintaining the dignity of the deceased.”