Gazans discover mass grave near Nasser hospital, IDF denies involvement
According to reports, the grave contained at least 200 bodies.
Gazans have reported discovering a mass grave with over 200 bodies on Monday near the Nasser Hospital in the city of Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip.
The Qatari-based news outlet Al-Jazeera published a report on the matter claiming that Palestinian civil defense members and paramedics have retrieved "300 bodies buried in this mass grave by the Israeli military."
The IDF has rejected these claims in an official statement in response to the reports saying that they are "baseless and unfounded."
IDF responds
The IDF spokesperson unit continued saying that, "that the claim that the IDF buried Palestinian bodies is baseless and unfounded.
During the IDF’s operation in the area of Nasser Hospital, in accordance to the effort to locate hostages and missing persons, corpses buried by Palestinians in the area of Nasser Hospital were examined.
The examination was conducted in a carful manner and exclusively in places where intelligence indicated the possible presence of hostages.
The examination was carried out in a respectfully while maintaining the dignity of the deceased. Bodies examined, which did not belong to Israeli hostages, were returned to their place.
At the end of February, IDF forces conducted a precise and targeted operation against the terrorist organization Hamas in the Nasser Hospital area.
During the operation, about 200 terrorists who were in the hospital were apprehended, medicines intended for Israeli hostages were found undelivered and unused, and a great deal of ammunition was confiscated. The activity was done in a targeted manner and without harming the hospital, the patients and the medical staff."
US, UN concerned about the mass grave
The US State Department said on Tuesday that reports on mass graves in Gaza were troubling.
UN rights chief Volker Turk said earlier on Tuesday he was "horrified" by the mass grave reports at Gaza hospitals.
This is a developing story.
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