THE UN’s human rights chief has been left “horrified” by reports of mass graves being found at hospitals in Gaza.
It was previously reported that a mass grave was discovered at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.
There were also reports that a mass grave was found inside the Nasser Medical Complex in Gaza’s Khan Younis.
Palestinian officials said they exhumed 238 bodies at Nasser, some with their hands tied.
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Israel’s military has said that claims it buried bodies are “baseless” although added that during a two-week operation at the hospital in Khan Younis, troops “examined” bodies buried by Palestinians “in places where intelligence indicated the possible presence of hostages”.
Prior to the Israeli operation at Nasser, staff said they were being forced to bury bodies in the hospital’s courtyard as nearby fighting was preventing access to cemeteries.
The Israeli military has raided a number of hospitals in Gaza because it believes Hamas fighters have been operating inside them – a claim both Hamas and medical officials have denied.
More than 34,000 Palestinians, most of them children and women, have now been killed in Gaza since October 7.
A spokeswoman for the UN Human Rights Office said it was currently working on corroborating reports from Palestinian officials that 283 bodies had been found in Nasser hospital’s grounds, including 42 which had been identified.
“Victims had reportedly been buried deep in the ground and covered with waste,” Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.
“Among the deceased were allegedly older people, women and wounded, while others were found with their hands tied and stripped of their clothes.”
Volker Turk, the UN human rights chief, has called for an independent, effective and transparent investigation into the deaths, adding: “Given the prevailing climate of impunity, this should include international investigators.
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“Hospitals are entitled to very special protection under international humanitarian law.
“And the international killing of civilians, detainees, and others who are hors de combat [not participating in hostilities] is a war crime.”
On Monday, a spokesperson for the Hamas-run Civil Defence Force told BBC Arabic’s Gaza Today programme that it had received reports that the bodies of a “large number” of people killed and buried in a makeshift cemetery in the hospital’s courtyard were moved to another location during the Israeli raid.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said: “The claim that the IDF buried Palestinian bodies is baseless and unfounded.
“During the IDF’s operation in the area of Nasser Hospital, in accordance with the effort to locate hostages and missing persons, corpses buried by Palestinians in the area of Nasser hospital 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.
“Bodies examined, which did not belong to Israeli hostages, were returned to their place.”
The World Health Organisation (WHO) meanwhile has previously described al-Shifa as an “empty shell”, with most of the buildings extensively damaged or destroyed, and the majority of equipment unusable or reduced to ashes.
It also said “numerous shallow graves” had been dug just outside the emergency department, and that “many dead bodies were partially buried with their limbs visible”.
The IDF said it had avoided harm to patients at al-Shifa although the WHO cited the acting hospital director as saying patients were held in abysmal conditions during the siege and that at least 20 patients reportedly died due to a lack of access to care and limited movement.
The UN human rights chief also decried a series of Israeli strikes on Rafah in the past few days as “beyond warfare”.
The strikes included one on Saturday night, after which a premature baby was delivered from the womb of her pregnant mother, who was killed along with her husband and other daughter.
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Turk also warned against a full-scale Israeli ground assault on Rafah, where 1.5 million displaced civilians are sheltering.
In response, the IDF said it was “operating to dismantle Hamas military and administrative capabilities”.
“In stark contrast to Hamas’s intentional attacks on Israeli men, women and children, the IDF follows international law and takes feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm,” it added.
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