Hundreds of bodies, including of women and older people, have reportedly been found in the aftermath of an Israeli raid
UN rights chief Volker Turk said on Tuesday that he was “horrified” by the destruction of the Nasser and Al-Shifa medical facilities in Gaza by Israeli troops and reports of mass graves discovered there.
Palestinian authorities reported finding scores of bodies in mass graves at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis this week after it was abandoned by the IDF. Bodies were also reported at the Al-Shifa site following an Israeli special forces operation.
According to Gaza’s Hamas-run Civil Emergency Service, cited by Reuters, a total of 310 bodies had been found so far in one mass grave at the Nasser hospital, the main health facility in southern Gaza. Two other mass graves had reportedly been identified but not yet excavated.
“We feel the need to raise the alarm because clearly there have been multiple bodies discovered,” said Turk, while addressing a UN briefing via a spokesperson.
“Some of them had their hands tied, which of course indicates serious violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law, and these need to be subjected to further investigations,” the UN human rights chief stated.
The UN human rights office said it was working on corroborating Palestinian officials’ reports, claiming that some of the bodies were buried beneath piles of waste and included women and older people.
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