GAZA City, Palestine

Palestinians have uncovered 392 bodies of people in three mass graves at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, the civil defense agency said on Thursday.

“Civil defense teams have dug up 392 bodies from the mass graves,” Yamen Abu Sulaiman, the head of Gaza’s civil defense agency, told a press conference in the southern city of Rafah.

Bodies of children were found among the victims.

“We don't know the reason for the presence of children's bodies in mass graves at the hospital,” Abu Sulaiman said.

According to the agency, signs of torture were found on the bodies of the victims.

“There are indications of carrying out field executions against some of the victims, while the bodies of other victims carried signs of torture and others were buried alive,” Abu Sulaiman said.

“Several victims were buried in plastic bags and placed at a depth of three meters, which accelerated their decomposition,” he added.

The civil defense chief said 227 victims have been identified, while 165 others remain unidentified, calling on the international community to intervene to halt the Israeli onslaught on the Palestinians and “uncover the Israeli crimes against the people of Gaza.”

During the press conference, civil defense official Mohammed Al-Mughayer aired a video of the victims with signs of torture evident on their bodies while being shackled with plastic restraints.

The bodies were discovered after the Israeli army withdrew from Khan Younis on April 7 following a 4-month ground offensive in the city.

On Wednesday, Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee denied reports about burying Palestinians in mass graves at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.

Israel has waged a brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7 last year, which Tel Aviv says killed nearly 1,200 people.

More than 34,300 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and 77,300 others injured, according to local health authorities.

More than six months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine, 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 in Istanbul