Israeli forces have begun exhuming cemeteries in Gaza and stealing bodies under the pretext that they are the remains of Palestinian activists, amid concerns that they are harvesting organs.
The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said that the Israeli army has repeatedly targeted cemeteries in Gaza Strip, causing widespread destruction and vandalism of the majority of graves and the stealing of bodies.
The observatory documented the Israeli occupation army’s targeting and destruction of dozens of cemeteries in the Gaza Strip, including Al-Falujah cemetery in the northern Gaza Strip, Ali bin Marwan, Sheikh Radwan, Al-Shuhada, and Sheikh Shaaban cemeteries, in addition to St. Porphyrius Church cemetery in Gaza City and Al-Shuhada cemetery in the northern town of Beit Lahia, destroying dozens of graves.
It revealed through field documentation published on Thursday evening on the observatory’s website, that Israeli’s attack on the Gaza Strip has caused sinkholes to engulf dozens of graves, with humans remains scattered or taken as dozens of graves have been seriously damaged.
The Euro-Med Monitor received reports confirming that the Israeli army dug up several graves in Al-Faluga cemetery and stole dead bodies.
The monitor said that Israel has blatantly violated international humanitarian law and rules of war regarding the protection of cemeteries and the sanctity of the dead.
“The dead must be disposed of in a respectful manner and their graves respected and properly maintained,” Rule 115 of customary international humanitarian law states.
Article (130) of the Geneva Convention of 1949 states; “The detaining authorities shall ensure that internees who die while interned are honourably buried, if possible according to the rites of the religion to which they belonged, and that their graves are respected, properly maintained, and marked in such a way that they can always be recognized.”
Over 120 mass graves now dot the Gaza Strip following Israeli’s relentless assault on Gaza, the Euro-Med Monitor added, as a result of Israeli’s attacks cutting off access to main cemeteries.
