1/22/2024–|Last updated: 1/22/202401:30 AM (Mecca time)
An investigation conducted by CNN – based on satellite images and video clips – revealed that the Israeli army destroyed several cemeteries in the Gaza Strip under the pretext of determining whether its prisoners who were declared dead were buried there.
The American network said that the Israeli army destroyed at least 16 cemeteries in Gaza, and published satellite images and videos documenting this in its news.
She added that the Israeli army destroyed many cemeteries with bulldozers, smashed tombstones and exhumed some bodies during the ground operation in Gaza.
CNN devoted space to the statements of some legal experts who confirmed that the deliberate destruction of religious sites such as cemeteries and turning them into military targets is a violation of international law.
Experts explained that Israel’s actions may amount to a “crime.”
An Israeli army spokesman confirmed to the network that the army dug some graves in Gaza, and said that this was done to find out whether Israeli hostages were buried there.
The Israeli spokesman claimed that the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) is using the cemeteries for “military purposes,” adding that the army “has no choice but to target the cemeteries.”
In a written response to a question about exhuming graves, the Israeli army confirmed that it had exhumed some graves in Gaza and recovered bodies, and claimed that this was done to find out whether its prisoners who were declared dead were buried there.
It is noteworthy that the occupation army has been waging, since October 7, 2023, a devastating war on Gaza that has so far left more than 25,000 martyrs and 62,000 injured, and caused the displacement of about 1.9 million residents of the Strip, in light of massive destruction of homes and infrastructure, according to Sector authorities and the United Nations.