“This is my son Nabil, I swear!”: Gaza officials identify bodies from graves found in southern Gaza | international

The woman screams under the grave: “It’s him, it’s him, my son, Nabil, Nabil… I swear! This is Nabeel. It’s his jacket, it’s his jacket! Nabil is one of about 400 bodies recovered last week from three mass graves at the Al Nasser hospital complex in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza, according to emergency services. They were discovered as Israeli troops withdrew from the compound they had captured in December. “My soul, my heart. I told you, I can recognize even his bones,” the mother says in frustration and disbelief as she removes the mask from her mouth. The two are among a group of people on cleared land, according to a video of the scene recorded by emergency services and provided to this newspaper by an officer of the Civil Defense Corps in Gaza. Both the women have identified the half-decomposed body which was taken out from the white plastic shroud.

So far, less than half of the bodies have been identified and Palestinian emergency services estimate that about 300 more bodies remain to be recovered. Local authorities under Hamas consider these “crimes against humanity” and the United Nations, which lends credibility to the complaints, has called for an investigation.

To search Nabil’s personal belongings, a young man wearing blue rubber gloves opens his black jacket, which he is wearing over a light sweatshirt with a red drawstring on the hood, as can be seen in the recording. But his mother and sister have no doubt: It’s him. The girl lies down on the ground, stands at a distance from the deceased with her hands open and talks to him. Intending to prepare the body for burial once it was identified, the mother commented, “Bring some of the best perfume there is.”

According to the written report by Dr. Momahed Al Mughair, some of the bodies, including those of civilians of both sexes and all ages, show “signs” of having been tortured by being shot in the head, some tied up. , one of those responsible to the civil protection body and director of the documentation committee appointed to report on the excavations. He also expressed doubt that any of the victims may have been buried alive as they were not wrapped in a shroud as per Muslim funeral protocol. Additionally, they found the victims wearing the same white clothes that the Israeli military had dressed detainees in Al Nasser Hospital, Al Mughair says. With this information they call what happened a “crime against humanity” and call for an international investigation.

The bodies identified included that of young Jamal Abu al Ola, who was bundled inside Al Nasser Hospital by Israeli soldiers who had surrounded the facility several times on 13 February to tell those inside to evacuate the facilities. . He was wearing the same white clothes that the Israeli army makes prisoners wear. He is distinguished in a video, which was widely shared on social networks at the time of the issuance of these orders, and which was verified by media such as the BBC. Shortly afterward, Al Ola was shot and killed, with Strip officials condemning the incident as “an execution”, supporting the complaint with images of the body and testimony collected by British diners.

The work to recover the victims continues for the eighth day this Friday. Some appear to be stacked on top of each other and to a depth of three metres. So far, 165 bodies, like Nabil’s, have been identified, which corresponds to 42% of the 392, according to the balance of emergency services. They estimate that around 300 more remains may still be unearthed.

Momahed al-Mughair points out that some bodies were not wrapped in the white shrouds used in Gaza, but in black or blue shrouds. He further stated that they had reportedly been dug up before being taken underground and taken away more than once for analysis by Israeli occupation authorities. Some have stitches and stitches that do not correspond to the work done by the health services in the strip and, in some cases, limbs are missing, this doctor condemns. The Israeli military admits to exhuming some bodies to investigate whether they were the remains of Hamas hostages still in Palestinian territory, but denies the rest of the allegations.

Since Israeli armed forces invaded Gaza in late October, emergency services estimate they have received about 100,000 calls to treat victims or collect bodies. The situation has been particularly dramatic in the Khan Yunis area, which has been occupied by troops for almost four months. Most of these calls cannot be answered because of restrictions on access to the military zone or because of attacks and bombings, so when they get there they often find “decayed bodies or skeletons”, which the civil protection body condemns. . In addition to the more than 34,000 deaths officially recorded by Gazan authorities, they estimate that fewer than 7,000 victims are still pending location or recovery. Many of them are still buried under the debris.

United Nations asked to investigate

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged last Tuesday that these graves be investigated. The Civil Protection of the Strip also demands that Israel allow humanitarian organizations and media access to Gaza so that they can witness. Israel confirmed through a military spokesman on Wednesday that the graves were dug up months ago and that it believes it is a “blatantly false” case of a “disinformation campaign” aimed at delegitimizing Israel. Is part of.

The bodies in the graves are those of victims as a result of Israeli military attacks, but it is unclear how many or whom the military buried. Muslim tradition dictates burial in the first 24 hours after death and in besieged hospitals such as Gaza, health care workers or relatives often perform burials wherever possible and however they can. In fact, two of the three Al Nasser tombs are located next to the mortuary.

“Some of them had their hands tied, which certainly indicates serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, which is why the case deserves further investigation,” said Ravina Shamdasani, spokeswoman for UN Senior Commissioner Volker Turk. Should be subjected to.” For human rights, in New York on Tuesday. Despite ongoing investigations into atrocities committed during the war by both sides, the International Criminal Court in The Hague has not yet ruled on the case.

In Gaza’s two main hospitals, Al Nasser in the south and Al Shifa in the north, mass burials of Palestinian civilians have been found after Israeli occupation troops withdrew from the facilities. Kenneth Roth, former director of Human Rights Watch (HRW) and professor at Princeton University, told Al Jazeera (USA), “It would simply require cooperation from both sides, but Israel does not want to allow this type of independent investigation.” “

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