UN Officials Call For Investigation of Mass Grave Claims at Gaza Hospitals

Last updated on August 7th, 2024 at 04:29 pm

Multiple United Nations officials expressed dismay at reports of mass graves at two different hospitals in the Gaza Strip, and called for an independent investigation on the matter.

Reports first emerged in early April, of apparent mass graves being found at Al Shifa hospital in Gaza City after Israeli forces concluded combat operations there on April 1. Other mass graves were reported in recent days at the Nasser hospital complex in Khan Younis.

Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, raised allegations on Tuesday that some bodies exhumed from these mass graves were stripped of their clothes and had their hands tied.

“We’ve seen these reports on various media platforms; they’re extremely troubling to say the least,” U.N. spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said in a Tuesday press briefing. “Yet another reason, as if we needed one, for all of these sites to be fully investigated in a way that is credible and independent.”

Volker Türk, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, also raised concerns about the reported mass graves and called for an independent investigation.

“Hospitals are entitled to very special protection under international humanitarian law. And the intentional killing of civilians, detainees, and others who are hors de combat is a war crime,” Turk said Tuesday.

The Israeli military has denied wrongdoing in connection with the mass grave allegations. The IDF told CNN that the “claim that the IDF buried Palestinian bodies is baseless and unfounded.”

During a Tuesday department press briefing, State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said the department is aware of the mass grave reports and finds the allegations “incredibly troubling.

“We’re inquiring on this with the Government of Israel,” Patel added.

Israeli forces have alleged Al Shifa hospital has served as a command center for Palestinian militants, such as Hamas. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has said it killed 200 combatants and captured 500 more over the course of operations there.

The IDF has also said it had credible evidence of hostages being held at the Nasser hospital complex, and in February told the Jerusalem Post that Israeli troops arrested  hundreds of terrorists and suspected terrorists during a raid there.

Nasser Hospital Siege Claims

The IDF reportedly began operating near Nasser hospital as early as Jan. 19, with a siege reportedly beginning there on Jan. 21. Israeli forces raided the hospital complex later on in February and besieged the hospital complex again in late March.

Following a virtual analysis of footage and Google Map locations, GeoConfirmed.org asserted that claims IDF forces buried bodies in a mass grave at the Nasser hospital are disinformation. GeoConfirmed said the mass grave allegations ignore that the grave sites were at least partially dug by Palestinians on Jan. 25 and thereafter.

GeoConfirmed said it had reviewed footage showing civilians digging in a hospital courtyard, beginning on Jan. 25, with more footage of digging on Jan. 28 and Feb. 3.

A still image GeoConfirmed provided for the Jan. 25 site appears to show raised rows of dirt.

A video of the Jan. 28 site shows a crowd gathered around, a trench that by that point had the approximate dimensions for a single body.

A video of the Feb. 3 site shows a group of individuals digging a much larger trench

CNN reported one of its stringers recently visited the Nasser hospital complex and reported people had buried bodies of family members killed on the hospital grounds as a temporary measure in January. According to the stringer, when people returned to find their family members’ graves they determined the bodies had been dug up during the Israeli military operation and then reburied in at least one collective grave.

The IDF has admitted uncovering previously dug graves but has said this was done to determine if any slain hostages were buried among the Palestinian dead.

“The examinations were carried out in an orderly manner while maintaining the dignity of the deceased and in a respectful manner,” the IDF told Times of Israel, adding that the bodies were “returned to their place in an orderly and proper manner.”

The IDF found no bodies of hostages during this exhumation.

In a Wednesday update, GeoConfirmed revisited its assessment of the Nasser hospital graves, noting claims from a Palestinian journalist that Israeli forces ran through a grave site with a bulldozer. GeoConfirmed also raised the possibility that Israeli forces may have added more bodies to the grave sites they uncovered.

“Based on all the footage and statements we gathered it seems that both involved parties seem to misinform people and a neutral investigation is needed,” GeoConfirmed wrote in a Wednesday morning X post. “This requires access to the site for international investigators, given by BOTH involved parties.”