Gaza mass graves found: White House demands explanation from Israel

The White House said it wants “answers” from Israeli authorities after the discovery of mass graves in two Gaza hospitals that were destroyed by the Israeli siege.

The Gaza Civil Defense Agency announced that health workers discovered nearly 340 bodies of people allegedly killed and buried by Israeli forces at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, reports Agence France-Presse.

It is reported that around 30 bodies were found buried in two graves in the courtyard of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, the Guardian reports.

Civil Defense Chief Khan Younis said only 65 bodies had been identified out of 392 bodies recovered from mass graves in Gaza.

The Palestinian Authority announced this week that hundreds of Palestinian bodies were found in a mass grave at Nasser Hospital following the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Khan Yunis.

The Palestinian Authority is demanding an investigation into mass graves at hospitals in the Gaza Strip

The Palestinian Civil Defense team today called on the United Nations to investigate the mass graves of Palestinians in hospitals in the Gaza Strip where nearly 400 bodies have been discovered so far after Israeli forces left the hospital compounds, saying they were war crimes.

Members of the Palestinian Civil Defense team claimed at a press conference that there were cases of Israeli forces shooting patients while they were undergoing surgery at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.

A Palestinian team accused Israel of burying multiple bodies at Nasser Hospital in plastic bags three meters deep, where they rapidly decomposed to cover up evidence of “crimes”, including torture.

The Israeli military said the Palestinian Authority’s claims that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) buried the bodies of Palestinians were “baseless”.

The statement said that Israeli teams searching for the hostages examined the bodies previously buried by the Palestinians near Nasser Hospital and returned them after they were examined.

It is emphasized that the interrogation was carried out exclusively in places where intelligence data indicated the possible presence of bodies of hostages.

Israel has released footage it says shows Palestinians digging a mass grave before the IDF operation.

The EU is demanding an independent investigation

The European Union has requested an independent investigation of the mass graves discovered in Khan Younis and in the “Al Shifa” hospital, the largest medical complex in the Gaza Strip, EU spokesman Peter Stano announced.

– We are very concerned about the discovery of mass graves in Khan Younis and “Al Shifa” hospital. This forces us to ask for an independent investigation of all suspects and circumstances because it gives the impression that there were violations of international human rights – Stano told reporters.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said earlier that he was horrified by the destruction of the Nasser and Al Shifa hospitals in the Gaza Strip and reports of mass graves in and around the hospitals.

Turk also advocated for an independent and open investigation.

(Guardian, Tanjug, Srna)