Bodies Found With ‘Hands Tied' In Mass Graves In Gaza

Remains of more than 300 people discovered at hospital sites

- ALEXANDER BUTLER

Bodies with their hands tied and without clothes were reportedly found among hundreds of corpses discovered in mass graves in Gaza, the United Nations said.

The organisation said it was reviewing claims more than 300 bodies were discovered at two different burial sites outside the Nasser and al-Shifa hospitals, some of whom were women and elderly people. It warned of potential “serious violations” of humanitarian law after the bodies were found buried “deep in the ground and covered with waste”. The Israeli military said the claim was “baseless and unfounded”.

“Among the deceased were allegedly older people, women and wounded, while others were found tied with their hands and stripped of their clothes,” a UN High Commissioner for Human Rights spokesperson said. “This of course indicates serious violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law, and these need to be subjected to further investigations.”

Meanwhile, Israel bombarded northern Gaza overnight in some of its heaviest shelling in weeks, flattening areas which the Israeli military had previously withdrawn from. Yesterday, thick black smoke could be seen rising in northern Gaza as Israeli tanks rolled into the east of Beit Hanoun on the edge of the Gaza Strip.