‘Heartbreaking’: Bodies returned from Israel are unidentifiable
This is the fourth time we have seen bodies of Palestinians brought back to Gaza from Israel. The heartbreaking part of this is that none of these bodies are identifiable.
Families of the missing met a cargo container that unloaded the bodies at Nasser Hospital today. They searched through the blue-coloured plastic bags with Hebrew inscriptions on them, looking for anything they could identify their loved ones with.
Unfortunately, what we are looking at is completely unidentifiable bodies, largely decomposed. Unless there is a DNA test, which is not available at this time in the Gaza Strip, none of these bodies are going to be identified.
Mass grave for unidentified Palestinians
People in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, bury the bodies of unidentified Palestinians at a mass grave after they were handed over by Israel.
Gaza officials say Israeli forces took 2,000 bodies over course of war
Gaza’s Government Media Office says that Israeli forces have taken 2,000 bodies from cemeteries throughout the course of the war, and that some corpses have been handed back in ways that “desecrated the bodies” of those killed.
“Over the course of 304 days of the genocide, the occupation has kidnapped more than 2,000 bodies of martyrs and dead people from dozens of cemeteries in the governorates of the Gaza Strip, which the occupation bulldozed with bulldozers and military vehicles and turned their graves over, in a scene that violates humanity and human feelings,” the statement reads.
“The Israeli occupation army desecrates the dignity of the bodies of 89 martyrs, handing them over as skeletons and decomposed corpses.”
Decomposed Palestinian bodies highlight ‘unprecedented crimes’ in Gaza
Hamas says that the fact that 80 decomposed bodies have been released by the Israeli military further highlights the “unprecedented crimes” committed in Gaza.
“They kill unarmed civilians in hospitals and shelters, kidnap their bodies, and exhume graves of martyrs and the dead, transferring them to occupation centres,” Hamas said, adding that this doubles the pain of Palestinian families who only wish to know the fate of their killed loved ones and bury them with dignity.
“This necessitates a clear stance from the international community to reject and condemn these actions and to work on holding the occupation leaders accountable for these heinous inhumane practices,” Hamas said.
حفر قبر جماعي بخان يونس لدفن 80 جثة سلمها الاحتلال #حرب_غزة #فيديو pic.twitter.com/Ub41VPTgNG
— الجزيرة فلسطين (@AJA_Palestine) August 5, 2024
