Gaza: Hundreds of bodies are recovered from mass graves at two major hospitals
BMJ 2024; 385 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.q954 (Published 25 April 2024) Cite this as: BMJ 2024;385:q954
- Elisabeth Mahase
- The BMJ
Hundreds of bodies “buried deep in the ground and covered with waste” have been recovered at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis and al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, the UN has reported.1
“Among the deceased were allegedly older people, women and wounded, while others were found tied with their hands . . . tied and stripped of their clothes,” said Ravina Shamdasani, a spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
A total of 283 bodies have been found at Nasser Hospital alone, of which 42 have been identified, the UN said on 23 April. The discovery came after doctors and humanitarian workers described reports of hundreds of bodies in the grounds of al-Shifa hospital. Both hospitals were raided by the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) earlier this year.2
Forklift trucks arrived
Melanie Ward, chief executive officer of the UK charity Medical Aid for Palestinians, was among a group of doctors recently returned from Gaza who took part in a briefing co-hosted by the International Rescue Committee on 22 April. She outlined what she heard from colleagues who were part of the UN’s multi-agency mission to al-Shifa hospital after the withdrawal of Israeli forces. “They described to us what they found in the hospital grounds. Dozens of bodies, many of which were dismembered, [and] mass graves. These are …