UN urged to launch probe into mass graves at Gaza hospitals
‘There are cases of field execution of some patients while undergoing surgeries and wearing surgical gowns at the Nasser Medical Complex,’ say civil defence forces at a press conference
A Palestinian civil defence team on Thursday called on the United Nations (UN) to investigate what it said were war crimes at a Gaza hospital, saying nearly 400 bodies were recovered from mass graves ater Israeli soldiers departed the complex.
“There are cases of field execution of some patients while undergoing surgeries and wearing surgical gowns at the Nasser Medical Complex,” the civil defence forces said at a press conference, without presenting any evidence.
Palestinian authorities have this week reported finding hundreds of bodies in mass graves at Nasser hospital, the main medical facility in central Gaza, ater Israeli troops pulled out of the city of Khan Younis.
Bodies were also reported to have been found at the Al Shifa hospital in northern Gaza, which was targeted in an Israeli special forces operation.
UN rights chief Volker Turk said on Tuesday he was “horrified” by the destruction of the Nasser and Al Shifa medical facilities and by the reports of the mass graves, according to a spokesperson.
The Israeli military said claims by Palestinian authorities that the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) had buried the bodies were “baseless and unfounded.”
It said forces searching for Israeli hostages had examined bodies previously buried by Palestinians near Nasser hospital and had returned them ater they had been 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 respecfully while maintaining the dignity of the deceased,” it said in a statement.
Israel has denied killing those found in the graves and has released footage they say shows Palestinians digging these graves before the IDF operation.
The Palestinian Civil Defence Team accused Israel of burying a number of bodies in the Nasser complex in plastic bags at a depth of 3 metres, where they quickly decomposed concealing evidence of its “crimes,” including torture, it said.
The office of the prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in The Hague is investigating both sides in the Israeli-gaza war, including the events of Oct.7 and their atermath.
Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan has said his team is “actively investigating any crimes allegedly commited” in Gaza and that “those who are in breach of the law will be held accountable.”
Meanwhile, a memorial at the National Cathedral in Washington will honour the seven World Central Kitchen aid workers killed by Israeli air strikes in Gaza earlier this month.
José Andrés, the celebrity chef and philanthropist behind the Washington-based World Central Kitchen disaster relief group, was expected to speak at the celebration of life service, and famed cellist Yo-yo Ma will perform, organisers said.
The Biden administration said on Thursday that Douglas Emhoff, husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, and US Assistant Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell would be among senior administration figures atending.
The aid workers were killed on April 1 when a succession of Israeli armed drones ripped through vehicles in their convoy as they let one of World Central Kitchen’s warehouses on a food delivery mission.
Those who died were Palestinian Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha; Britons John Chapman, James Kirby and James Henderson; dual Uscanadian citizen Jacob Flickinger; Australian Lalzawmi Frankcom; and Polish citizen Damiam Sobol.
Ater an unusually swit investigation, Israel said the military officials involved in the strike had violated policy by acting based on a single grainy photo that one officer had contended incorrectly - showed one of the seven workers was armed. The Israeli military dismissed two officers and reprimanded three others.
The aid workers, whose trip had been coordinated with Israeli officials, are among more than 220 humanitarian workers killed in the six-month-old Israel-hamas war, according to the United Nations. That includes at least 30 killed in the line of duty.