Uncovering of mass grave at Gaza’s Nasser Hospital: What you need to know

Mass graves are not necessarily burial sites or final resting places but “are places of atrocity or mass death”, a UN report published in October 2020 said.

“What distinguishes mass graves from other mass burial sites are violations of ‘last rights’ and of last rites, including suppression or even annihilation of individual, cultural or religious identity in death,” the report said.

What has been the reaction from Israelis and Palestinians?

Gaza’s Government Media Office blamed Israel for the mass graves, describing their discovery and the overall situation at Nasser Medical Complex as a “heinous crime”.

“Storming it twice, and destroying some of its parts, demonstrates the extent of the barbarism of this occupation and the immorality of its army, which destroys all aspects of life and means of survival inside the Gaza Strip,” it said in a statement.

The Israeli army said in a statement on Tuesday that the claim that it buried Palestinian bodies was “baseless and unfounded”.

It said that during its operation in the area of Nasser Hospital, bodies buried by Palestinians “were examined” to try “to locate hostages and missing persons”. Dozens of Israelis remain in  captivity, held by Hamas and other Palestinian fighters in Gaza.

“The examination was conducted in a careful manner and exclusively in places where intelligence indicated the possible presence of hostages,” it said, adding that the examined bodies, which did not belong to Israeli captives, “were returned to their place”.

What has been the global reaction?

The UN called for “a clear, transparent and credible investigation” of mass graves uncovered at the two hospitals.

Credible investigators must have access to the sites, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

The European Union on Wednesday backed a UN call for an independent probe.

“This is something that forces us to call for an independent investigation of all the suspicions and all the circumstances because indeed it creates the impression that there might have been violations of international human rights committed,” EU spokesman Peter Stano said.

“That’s why it’s important to have independent investigation and to ensure accountability.”

In Washington, US Department of State spokesman Vedant Patel described the discovery of mass graves as “incredibly troubling”, adding that US officials asked the Israeli government for information.

The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement condemned “the continued and unchecked heinous war crimes committed by the Israeli occupation forces, the latest of which is the mass graves discovered in the Nasser Medical Complex in the city of Khan Younis”.