UN Commissioner says he is ‘horrified’ and calls for investigation into mass graves in Gaza; Israel denies | World

Palestinians unearth bodies found in mass grave in Gaza

This Tuesday (23), he demanded an international investigation and denounced the “reigning climate of impunity”.

The Israel Defense Forces denied having buried the bodies of Palestinians and said, in a statement, that there were exhumation operations in the Gaza Strip only to identify possible bodies of Israeli hostages.

The Civil Defense of the Gaza Strip, controlled by Hamas, said that since Saturday more than 300 bodies that had been buried by Israeli forces in mass graves at the Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis had been exhumed.

In early April, the World Health Organization (WHO) noted that Al Shifa hospital, the main hospital in the Palestinian enclave, had been reduced to an “empty shell” with many bodies.

Türk demanded “independent, effective and transparent investigations”. “Given the prevailing climate of impunity, international investigators must participate in this process,” he said.

According to Israel, Hamas uses hospitals to carry out attacks and hide tunnels and weapons. The terrorist movement, which governs Gaza, denies the accusations.

According to Gaza authorities, 310 bodies have already been found at the Nasser hospital, a number that the UN high commissioner is trying to verify.

“The victims were buried very deep in the ground and covered in rubbish,” Ravina Shamdasani, spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, told reporters, adding that bodies of elderly people and women were found.

Others were “found with their hands tied and without clothes”, he added.