Palestinians cover a body, which was buried in a mass grave, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in northern Gaza Strip, April 15, 2024. (Credit: Mahmoud Issa/Reuters)
Two mass graves were discovered on Monday in northern Gaza by the Health Ministry and the Civil Defense Forces, Al Jazeera reported — one which included patients from al-Shifa Hospital and another which contained 20 members of the same family killed in Beit Lahiya.
At al-Shifa hospital, which suffered a devastating raid that left most of the complex in ruins, health officials discovered nine bodies before halting recovery operations from fear of being targeted by Israeli drones that hovered in the skies above them as they were digging, the Qatari news outlet stated.
According to the report, some of the recovered bodies — which had not fully decomposed, indicating they were killed recently — appear to have been patients at the hospital; they still had medical bandages and catheters attached to them. Medical staff and family members identifying the bodies confirmed this.
Survivors of the Israeli army’s assault on the hospital said they witnessed the summary execution of Palestinians by Israeli forces during the raid, which started in mid-March and lasted two weeks.
The Israeli army laid siege to the hospital in November as well, during which Palestinians were forced to dig mass graves in the courtyard of the hospital to bury those who were killed or died from restrictions on water, food, medical supplies, and fuel.
A report by Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor published on April 1 concluded that while the exact number of casualties remains unknown, the organization was able to confirm from an initial investigation and testimonies that hundreds of dead bodies including some that were burned and others with heads and limbs severed, have been discovered inside the hospital complex and the surrounding area. Around the same time, the Gaza government media office said that roughly 400 people were killed as a result of the army’s actions there.
The Euro-Med report also states that 22 patients who were in al-Shifa’s intensive care unit died in their beds.
The second mass grave was discovered in Beit Lahiya, in northern Gaza, and contained about 20 decomposing bodies, Al Jazeera reported. Residents said all 20 were members of the al-Assaf family, killed in an Israeli military operation in the area four months ago.
Middle East Monitor shared a video, around four months ago, in which a man from Beit Lahiya is seen mourning members of his family killed in an Israeli strike there — he says 27 people had been killed, whom the outlet says were all members of his family.