2024-04-24 05:16
Source: Xinhuanet
The link has been copied
Font: Small Big
BEIJING, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Nearly 300 bodies have been found since April 19 at the Nasser medical center in Khan Younis city following the withdrawal of Israeli troops, the Palestinian civil defense department of the Gaza Strip said.
Yamen Abu Suleiman, director of the Gaza Civil Protection Department in Khan Younis City, told CNN on the 22nd that the total number of bodies found in this hospital reached 283, including 73 found on the same day. Some of the bodies were found with their hands and feet tied. "There are signs of on-site executions. We don't know if they were buried alive or executed. Most of the bodies were already decomposed. ”
This is an interior scene of Khan Younis Nasser Hospital, a city in the southern Gaza Strip, taken on February 28. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Rizek Abduljawad)
Mahmoud Basal, spokesman for the Gaza Civil Defence, told AFP on the 22nd: "The identification work is facing difficulties, but the Civil Defence is still trying. He said on the 21st that some of the deceased had been abused during their lifetimes.
According to several international media reports and Gaza Civil Defence authorities, some of the bodies found in Nasser hospital in recent days were killed after Israeli forces stormed the hospital in late March, and some died during the siege of Nasser hospital earlier this year.
The area around Nasser hospital was heavily bombed in January this year, and heavy fighting ensued. CNN reported at the time that people had to dig some graves in the Nasser hospital compound to bury their loved ones temporarily because they could not safely transport the bodies from the hospital to a distant cemetery. The Associated Press reported that Israeli troops were evacuated from Khan Younis on April 7, and local residents were able to return to Nasser Hospital, intending to officially bury their deceased relatives in the official cemetery.
This is a hospital bed photographed on February 28 in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis Nasser Hospital. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Rizek Abduljawad)
A CNN special correspondent said after visiting Nasser Hospital on the 21st that the residents found that the bodies of their loved ones had been exhumed. Apparently, the Israeli army intended to test the bodies for DNA testing to see if they contained the remains of Israelis who had been seized. Subsequently, Israeli forces buried the exhumed bodies in at least one mass grave.
A man at the scene told CNN that his 21-year-old son, who died in the fighting in January, was temporarily buried in Nasser Hospital, "but we can't find the body now." We want him to be buried in a decent cemetery."
Another man said his brother died in the fighting in January and was temporarily buried under a fallen palm tree, "but I couldn't find him." The Israelis dug up the bodies and changed places. After they did DNA tests, they left the bodies of the deceased indiscriminately."
Ismail Tawabuta, head of Hamas's media office, said in an interview with AFP: "We call for an international investigation to carefully investigate these crimes against civilians, children and women. ”
Gaza Civil Defence officials said that the search for the body at the Nasser hospital will continue until the 25th.
Israeli forces stormed Nasser Hospital twice on February 15 and March 24. CNN reported that after the Israeli army stormed the Nasser hospital for the second time, it surrounded the hospital with tanks and armored vehicles.
This is a damaged ambulance photographed inside Khan Younis Nasser Hospital in the southern Gaza Strip city on February 28. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Rizek Abduljawad)
The Israeli military did not comment for the time being, saying it would respond to media questions later.
A similar situation occurred at the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City in the northern Gaza Strip. From 18 March to 1 April, Israeli forces attacked and occupied the Shifa Hospital for the second time. Eyewitnesses said that after the Israeli troops withdrew, a large number of bodies of civilians, wounded and medical personnel who had taken refuge were found in the vicinity of the Shifa hospital, some of which were apparently run over by military vehicles. The World Health Organization said on April 6 that the Gaza Strip's once largest hospital had been destroyed "as an empty shell."
Israel has designated Hamas as using the hospital as a command centre and hiding people held hostage during its sneak attack on Israel on 7 October last year. Hamas and health care workers have denied the claim. (Hu Ruoyu)