Anadolu staff
04 March 2024•Update: 04 March 2024
GAZA CITY, Palestine
Israeli warplanes targeted a “makeshift cemetery” Sunday built by residents of the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, causing the bodies of Palestinians recently killed by Israeli forces to emerge.
“The Israeli army bombed a mass grave containing the bodies of hundreds of martyrs who were recently buried,” Ahmed al-Kahlot, the director of civil defense in the northern Gaza Strip, told Anadolu.
“The bombing resulted in the destruction of the cemetery and the emergence of bodies from beneath the soil,” he added.
Al-Kahlot noted that civil defense teams are working diligently to re-bury the bodies.
Since the beginning of the war launched by Israel on the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7 last year, residents of all governorates of the besieged enclave have resorted to establishing makeshift collective and individual graves in various locations including residential neighborhoods, house yards and sports fields.
It comes as accessing regular cemeteries is impossible due to road closures and the destruction of infrastructure by the Israeli army, in addition to the frequent targeting of civilians.
Since the beginning of the war, the Israeli army has been engaged in excavating and targeting graves in areas where its military vehicles penetrate.
Israel has launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip following a cross-border incursion by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7. The ensuing Israeli bombardment has killed 30,410 people and injured 71,700 others with mass destruction and shortages of necessities.
The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.
*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala
