More than 390 Palestinian bodies have been excavated from three mass graves around the destroyed Nasser Medical Complex and Al-Shifa Hospital in the Gaza Strip.
Last month, the Israeli Occupying Forces launched unlawful attacks on hospitals, occupying them for weeks and leaving a trail of destruction, including the deaths of patients and medics, exacerbating what was already a dire situation in one of the world’s most densely populated enclaves.
Many of the Palestinian bodies uncovered earlier this week allegedly included older people, women, and the wounded who had been buried deep in the ground and covered with waste, according to the UN Human Rights Office. Some of the bodies even had medical tubes attached to them, indicating they may have been buried alive, while others were found with their arms behind their backs and bullet wounds to the back of their heads, clear signs of execution.
Most of the bodies cannot be identified, either because they are too badly decomposed or mutilated, according to the Palestinian Civil Defence.
The Israeli army executed hundreds of displaced, sick, and injured people during a raid on the Nasser Medical Complex during a ground operation that lasted for four months, the Gaza Media Office said.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said evacuees who had fled the hospital before the Israeli military’s departure recounted chilling scenes of “horror, mass killings, and arrests to the point the entire hospital turned from a place of healing into a massive graveyard.”
This is yet another glaring example of the ongoing human rights abuses perpetrated by Israeli forces against Palestinian civilians in Gaza and beyond. Despite vehement demands from both the UN and EU for a thorough and independent investigation into the brutality of Israeli actions, the Netanyahu government, as it has shamelessly done in the past, blatantly disregards their calls for accountability. Hospitals are entitled to special protection under international humanitarian law, as are civilians and detainees.
Israel, on its part, has refuted allegations of burying bodies in the mass graves and has not acknowledged any evidence of executions in certain corpses. Israeli authorities have stated that their forces excavated and inspected some of the graves already present, searching for potential Israeli captives among them.
The UK, counted among Israel’s staunchest supporters, has chosen not to recognize any criticism of Israeli human rights violations and alleged war crimes. This was once again demonstrated during Prime Minister’s Question Time (PMQs) last week. The Scottish National Party in the House of Commons stands out as the sole party consistently challenging the government on its double standards in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Mhairi Black, SNP Deputy Leader in Westminster, asked questions to Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden during the PMQs about whether the mass graves uncovered outside the destroyed hospitals in Gaza were considered war crimes, just as the UK parliament condemned Russia for mass graves discovered two years ago in Ukraine and argued this was evidence of war crimes.
Would he consider the mass graves found in Gaza the day before as war crimes by Israel as well? The Deputy Leader defended Israel’s actions, saying Netanyahu’s government would investigate any allegations. He considered what Israel was doing in Gaza a “war of self-defence.” He refused to condemn Israel for the mass burials of Palestinians, nor for any independent investigation of the alleged atrocities committed by Israel.
The UK is adamant that Israel is an innocent party and does not commit any crimes, and everything it does is “self-defence.” This is the same argument Prime Minister Rishi Sunak uses when questioned in parliament about the indiscriminate bombings by Israel that killed tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians. He even rejected the decision by the International Court of Justice, which had ordered Israel to take “immediate and effective measures” to protect Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip from the risk of genocide.
No matter how tirelessly international bodies endeavour to bring Israel to account, Western superpowers—the architects of these very institutions—persistently impede and sabotage these efforts, choosing to shield Israel from the repercussions of its actions above all. The US, the UK, and the EU’s ongoing lip service to international law and rules of engagement is glaringly evident as they timidly implore Israel to refrain from invading Rafah, a city now home to over half of Gaza’s population. Meanwhile, they continue to arm the occupying state with weaponry.
Israel continues its savage attack in the Gaza Strip, fully aware of its impunity and further emboldened by the rewards bestowed upon it by the West. As the mass graves came to light and as Israel prepared for an imminent attack on Rafah, US President Joe Biden signed into law a $26 billion aid package for Israel. The UK has refused an arms embargo against Israel and gives it diplomatic support at the UN.
More than 35,000 Palestinians have been killed, including 14,000 children, 10,000 women, and 77,500 wounded, in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since October 7. Israel has destroyed between 50 per cent and 61 per cent of Gaza’s buildings. 1.7 million Palestinians—more than 80 per cent of Gaza’s population—are displaced, according to the United Nations.
However, Israel’s aggression against the Palestinians has revealed that while governments may falter, the world’s public still retains its humanity. Surveys conducted globally demonstrate widespread support for the besieged Palestinians, and we are witnessing a surge of demonstrations across the West, including in universities, demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the pursuit of peace.
Photo: Gaza’s Civil Defence Authority teams unearth decomposed and dismembered bodies of Palestinians, including patients and staff Nasser at Hospital in Khan Yunis, following Israeli invasion of the city on April 21. The bodies being pulled in this photo are in front of the hospital’s Hind Al Daghma Dialysis Centre. (Credit: Jehad Alshrafi/Anadolu Agency)
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