Gaza – Together – The Euro-Mediterranean Observatory for Human Rights called for immediate international action to investigate crimes linked to the presence of hundreds of mass and random graves in the Gaza Strip, which contain the bodies of thousands of Palestinian victims since the start of the ongoing Israeli military attack since October 7, 2023.

Euro-Mediterranean Observatory field teams closely followed the recovery of hundreds of bodies of the dead from mass graves, some of which were discovered in various hospitals in the Gaza Strip.

The Euro-Med Monitor said that the size of the graves and the number of bodies that have been recovered and that have not yet been recovered are alarming and require urgent international action, including the urgent formation of an independent international investigation committee, to investigate the circumstances of the establishment of these graves and the circumstances of the killing of the victims who were buried in them, especially in light of the presence of evide
nce. Many of them were directly subjected to premeditated murder and arbitrary and extrajudicial executions while they were detained and handcuffed.

He added that the circumstances of their burial require the formation of a technical committee of experts to examine the victims who are recovered, verify the cause of their death, and develop a system that allows the possibility of identifying their identities, whether currently or in the future.

Euro-Med pointed out that the Civil Defense teams’ recovery of hundreds of bodies from mass graves in ‘Nasser’ Hospital, and the previous recovery of hundreds of bodies from the ‘Al-Shifa’ Medical Complex are an example of these graves, which constitute a black page in the record of violations committed by Israeli forces in the occupied Palestinian territories. .

The Euro-Med Monitor stated that its field teams accompanied the recovery of dozens of victims from the mass graves in the Shifa Medical Complex, and examined the exhumation of the bodies of handcuffed victi
ms and others who were wounded and were not provided with health care, and who were executed despite their health condition.

He confirmed that the bodies of the victims that were recovered turned out to be decomposed, and some of them consisted of body parts and torn bodies, and others were without heads after being run over by Israeli bulldozers.

The Euro-Med field team documented the exhumation of the bodies of some patients, as evidenced by the presence of urinary catheters or splints that were still attached to their bodies at the time of their exhumation, in addition to the presence of medical files for the wounded and sick, which were buried with them and extracted from two pits in the Shifa Medical Complex.

He stated that the majority of the bodies recovered had begun to decompose as a result of the long period of time, and some of them had clearly been mauled by cats and dogs, after Israeli forces had hindered their recovery over the past months.

In this regard, Dr. Moatasem Saeed Salah, a member
of the Health Emergency Committee in the Ministry of Health, told Euro-Med that after the withdrawal of Israeli forces, 30 bodies were found buried in two cemeteries inside Al-Shifa Hospital during the siege of the hospital, one in front of the reception and emergency department and the other in front of the industrial department.

Salah stated that only 14 of them were identified, as the majority of the bodies belonged to patients or wounded people who were in the hospital and were not provided with the necessary health care.

Euro-Med reported that its teams documented the appearance of mass and random graves since the inauguration of the first mass grave in the Shifa Medical Complex on October 15, 2023, after it was not possible to transfer the dead and dead to the official cemetery in Gaza City due to its presence in eastern Gaza. Later, these graves were built until their total number increased. About 140 graves, some of which contain hundreds of bodies.

Euro-Med pointed out that among the mass graves i
t documented last November and December were; The first random cemetery is in the Al-Daraj neighborhood in the center of Gaza City, which was dug on land for the ‘Al-Masry’ family on ‘Al-Sahaba’ Street in Gaza City. Its area is about 500 meters, and the number of bodies buried in it is estimated at at least 150.

Likewise, the second random cemetery in the ‘Al-Daraj’ neighborhood was dug on land on Al-Istiklal Street (Al-Qaws) near the ‘Sha’biyya’ intersection. Its area is about two thousand square meters, and the number of bodies buried in it is estimated at more than 200.

Euro-Med stated that the majority of the newly recovered bodies were either in the streets or in simple one-story buildings, while there are great difficulties in recovering the bodies of the dead from beneath multi-story buildings.

There are thousands of destroyed homes in multi-storey buildings that used to house dozens of residents, which have also turned into mass graves for their residents because it is still impossible to recover t
hem. Either due to the lack of technical capabilities to remove the rubble, or the presence of these buildings in areas witnessing Israeli army operations.

Euro-Med stressed that the presence of mass graves is another conclusive evidence of the commission of serious crimes against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the violation of their rights, including their right to life, not to be subjected to enforced disappearance, and to humane treatment, in addition to the final rights of deceased persons and those related to them. By individually identifying them, treating their remains with dignity, ensuring their right and the right of their families to be buried respectfully and appropriately, according to the rituals of their religion, burying them in individual graves, respecting these graves, and marking them in a way that can always be identified.

Euro-Med called on the international community to put pressure on Israel to reveal all the mass graves that the Israeli army dug in the Gaza Strip, determine thei
r locations, and take all necessary measures to prevent the Israeli army forces from exhuming, desecrating or destroying them, or looting the bodies from them, mutilating them, or treating them in a humiliating manner. Or degrading treatment of these victims after their killing or death.

The international community also called for immediate, independent international investigations into the crimes associated with the presence of mass graves, including unlawful murders committed against the victims who were buried and whose bodies were hidden in them, and to collect all evidence related to these crimes, and to take all measures to preserve this evidence to ensure that it is not lost. Which may contribute to impunity for the perpetrators of these crimes.

The Euro-Mediterranean Observatory called on all competent international bodies to cooperate and participate in identifying the bodies buried in these mass graves who have not yet been identified.

He stressed the need for urgent international action to intro
duce special mechanisms and specialized teams to remove the rubble of homes and buildings bombed by Israeli army forces, rescue the people trapped under their rubble and are still alive, and recover thousands of bodies of others who have died under them since the start of the military attack on October 7. the past.

Euro-Med called for decisive international pressure on Israel to secure the work of the people and crews working to remove this rubble, including civil defense crews, in addition to revealing the fate of thousands of missing Palestinian prisoners and detainees from the Gaza Strip who are detained by Israeli army forces, including those from the Gaza Strip. The crimes of enforced disappearance, murder, and unlawful execution were committed against them in Israeli prisons and detention centers.

He stressed that his estimates indicate that there are more than 13,000 Palestinians missing under the rubble, or killed in random mass graves, or forcibly hidden in Israeli prisons and detention centers, an
d some of them were killed inside them.

The Israeli army has not yet published any data about the circumstances of the killing of these prisoners and detainees, and no independent party has yet been able to verify and identify the circumstances of their killing, and their bodies have not yet been exhumed, their identities determined, their remains returned, or even their families notified.

Euro-Med stressed the need for rapid action to recover the bodies, warning that their continued presence in their current form threatens the spread of more epidemics and will have very serious repercussions on public health and the environment, matters that have been felt for several months.

The Observatory highlighted that the crime of genocide committed by Israel in the Gaza Strip since October 7 did not spare the victims even after they were killed, amid reprehensible international complicity.

He said that the fact that thousands of Palestinians remain missing constitutes an additional crime against their families, w
ho suffer from severe psychological torture, while the families of individuals who were arrested and forcibly disappeared by Israeli forces are particularly exposed to this type of suffering and pain, and they live in a state of constant anxiety and fear due to not knowing their fate. Their sons or daughters, or their parents, not knowing where they are being held or how they will be treated, with uncertainty about their return.

He added that this would leave profound effects on thousands of Palestinian families in the Gaza Strip, causing them grave spiritual and psychological harm, which constitutes another pillar of the crime of genocide committed by Israel against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Euro-Med renewed its call on the international community to fulfill its international legal obligations to stop the crime of genocide committed by Israel against the residents of the Gaza Strip since last October 7, and to activate real pressure tools to force Israel to stop committing the crime of genocide a
nd all its crimes immediately, and to pressure it to comply with the rules. International law and the decision of the International Court of Justice to protect Palestinian civilians from the risk of genocide in the Gaza Strip.

Euro-Med also renewed its call on the International Committee of the Red Cross to assume its responsibilities, verify the conditions of Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israeli prisons, verify the conditions of their detention, search for missing persons, and contribute to revealing their fate.

The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor reiterated the need for Israel to be bound by the rules of international law, which stipulate the necessity of respecting the bodies of the dead, not taking them, and protecting them during armed conflicts, and the need for the parties to the conflict to take all possible measures to prevent the dead and dead from being robbed of their dignity and the mutilation of their bodies.

Euro-Med called on the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summar
y or arbitrary executions, the Special Rapporteur on torture, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, and the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances to immediately and comprehensively investigate all serious crimes committed by the Israeli army. Against Palestinian prisoners and detainees, including unlawful executions and killings, torture and inhuman treatment, and enforced disappearance, and submitting reports about them to all concerned parties, in preparation for the work of investigation and fact-finding committees and international courts in considering, investigating, and conducting trials regarding crimes.

Source: Maan News Agency