Over 520 bodies found in 7 mass graves in Gaza hospitals: Health Ministry

By Anadolu staff

More than 520 bodies were found in seven mass graves at hospitals in Gaza, the Palestinian Health Ministry said Saturday.

“We found 80 bodies in three mass graves in the courtyards of the Al-Shifa Medical Complex and dozens more inside the hospital departments,” the ministry said in a statement.

“A virtual examination of the bodies exhumed from mass graves showed that the largest number of bodies belonged to patients who were deprived of health care,” it added.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip in retaliation for an Oct. 7, 2023 cross-border attack by Hamas which killed around 1,200 people.

Nearly 35,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, have since been killed, and over 78,600 others injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.

Seven months into the conflict, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January said it is "plausible" that Tel Aviv is committing genocide in Gaza, ordering it to stop such acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

South Africa on Friday asked the ICJ to order Israel to withdraw from Rafah as part of additional emergency measures over the war.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi