Organs stolen, victims buried alive: Gaza mass graves expose Israeli crimes

Paramedics and rescue teams involved in retrieving civilian bodies from the mass graves discovered at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis have reported organ theft by Israeli military and claimed some Gaza victims were buried alive in the recently discovered graves.

At least 392 bodies, including 165 unidentified individuals, were unearthed from three mass graves following the withdrawal of Israeli military from Khan Younis.

Shocking evidence of torture, including shackling with plastic restraints and disfigurement, emerged from videos and photos of the victims.

Disturbingly, some bodies displayed signs of surgical incisions inconsistent with local practices, fuelling concerns of organ harvesting, according to a report in official Palestinian news agency WAFA.

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said on Sunday it had "concerns" about possible organ theft from Palestinian corpses, following reports by medical professionals in Gaza who examined some bodies after they were released by Israel.

The NGO claimed it has documented Israeli military confiscating dozens of dead bodies from the Al Shifa and Indonesian hospitals in northern Gaza, alongside others in the south.

Among the grisly discoveries around Nasser Hospital was the mutilated body of a young girl in a surgical gown, suggesting she may have been buried alive, alongside another victim similarly attired.

Akram al Satarri, a journalist based in Gaza, told US news outlet Democracy Now, "Some of the people were tied. Some of the people had medical accessories on their hands, like the cannulas. And when they were unearthed from the ground, it was apparent that they were buried alive."

Field executions

Further suspicions arose from the presence of gunshot wounds, hinting at possible field executions.

The use of non-standard burial shrouds, buried bodies stacked three meters deep, and the context of ongoing aggression against Palestinians underscores the gravity of the situation.

Speaking at a Thursday news conference, an official from the Palestinian Civil Defense in Gaza said, "We found three mass graves, the first in front of the morgue, the second behind the morgue, and the third north of the dialysis building."

The Israeli army has acknowledged that "corpses buried by Palestinians" had been examined by soldiers searching for hostages, but did not directly address allegations that Israeli troops were behind the killings.

Some parents in Gaza told the AFP that some of bodies recovered had been buried by relatives.

The United Nations, the European Union, and France have all called for an independent investigation into the mass graves. On Thursday, a US State Department spokesperson said Israel must probe itself in connection with the mass graves.

Israel has killed more than 34,305 Palestinians, 70 percent of them babies, children and women, and wounded a least 77,000 others.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice.

Experts such as Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the rights situation in the Palestinian territories, say there were reasonable grounds to believe Israel was committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.