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Scores of bodies found in two mass graves at hospital in Gaza’s Khan Younis

Some 150 bodies have been found in the two graves, and around 700 people are still unaccounted for since the Israeli withdrawal from Khan Younis on April 7, following a 4-month ground offensive.

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Hamas says the new mass grave in Khan Younis shows the extent of the Israeli atrocities in Gaza. / Photo: AA

Palestinians exhumed scores of bodies from two mass graves at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis city in southern Gaza, according to a local official.

“Some 150 bodies have been found in the two graves,” Ismail Al Thawabteh, the director-general of Gaza’s government media office, said on Sunday.

He said around 700 people are still unaccounted for since the Israeli withdrawal from Khan Younis on April 7 following a 4-month ground offensive.

“We believe that there are hundreds of martyrs still missing after they were executed and buried by the Israeli occupation forces in mass graves,” he added.

The Palestinian official said many bodies in the mass graves were found decomposed.

“This is a real crime and massacre committed by the occupation against the displaced, civilians, and children,” he said. “It is a crime of revenge and a brutal war by the Israeli occupation."

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'Horrific crimes'

The state news agency Wafa earlier said that at least 190 bodies had been found in a mass grave at the hospital with women and children making up the majority of the victims.

Hamas said the new mass grave in Khan Younis shows the extent of the Israeli atrocities in Gaza.

“This raises questions about the fate of thousands of Palestinians who are still missing” in Gaza, the group said in a statement.

“The horrific crimes committed by this criminal army and the mass killings of defenceless civilians would not have continued without the unlimited political and military support by the administration of US President Joe Biden,” it added.

There was no comment from the Israeli military on the report.

Israel has launched a brutal offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, following a Hamas operation.

Nearly 34,100 people have since been killed and 77,000 others injured amid mass destructions and severe shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war has pushed 85 percent of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60 percent of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.