The discovery of mass graves at two Gaza hospitals, said by Palestinian authorities to contain hundreds of bodies, have triggered calls by the U.N. rights chief and others for an international investigation. While not defined under international law, a mass grave is a burial site containing multiple bodies, the existence of which could be important in detecting possible war crimes.
An official Israel Defense Forces statement explained that the strikes on Lebanon were not carried out in response to any specific attack but as “part of the effort to destroy [Hezbollah’s] infrastructure in the border area.”
The United Nations has called for an independent investigation after mass graves were allegedly discovered at the al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City and the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.
Palestinian woman Reem Zidan had been searching for her son for months, and finally found his body on Wednesday as a bulldozer unearthed human remains outside a Gaza hospital."They told me to move away, but I said, 'my son is on the bulldozer'," Zidan told AFP from the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis, crediting her "maternal instinct" for "knowing" it was the body of 22-year-old Nabil.
More than 400 bodies of Palestinians said to be killed and buried by Israeli forces were discovered within three mass graves, according to local relief workers.