{"id":225144,"date":"2024-04-23T17:55:13","date_gmt":"2024-04-23T21:55:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=225144"},"modified":"2024-04-23T17:57:53","modified_gmt":"2024-04-23T21:57:53","slug":"mass-graves-in-gaza-show-victims-hands-were-tied-says-un-rights-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=225144","title":{"rendered":"<h2><b>Mass graves in Gaza show victims\u2019 hands were tied, says UN rights office<\/b><\/h2>"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_225145\" style=\"width: 1180px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-225145\" class=\"size-full wp-image-225145\" src=\"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/image1170x530cropped.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1170\" height=\"530\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/image1170x530cropped.jpg 1170w, https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/image1170x530cropped-300x136.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/image1170x530cropped-1024x464.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/image1170x530cropped-768x348.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1170px) 100vw, 1170px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-225145\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u00a9\u00a0\u00a0WHO | People gather outside the remains of Al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza&#8217;s largest health facility. (file)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>UN News<\/p>\n<div id=\"block-views-block-content-fields-block-lead\" class=\"views-element-container block block-views block-views-block-content-fields-block-lead\">\n<div class=\"block-content block__content\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"view view-content-fields view-id-content_fields view-display-id-block_lead js-view-dom-id-b2c88459ebba9a3d0b5f2d88018a685330e62c3f920aff2749df7f7a3f9cb9dd\">\n<div class=\"view-content\">\n<h3 class=\"views-row\"><span class=\"views-field views-field-field-news-date\"><span class=\"field-content\"><time class=\"datetime\" datetime=\"2024-04-23T12:00:00Z\">23 April 2024\u00a0 |\u00a0 \u00a0<\/time><\/span><\/span><span class=\"views-field views-field-field-news-topics\"><span class=\"field-content\"><a href=\"https:\/\/news.un.org\/en\/news\/topic\/peace-and-security\" hreflang=\"en\">Peace and Security<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<div class=\"views-field views-field-field-news-story-lead\">\n<div class=\"field-content\">\n<p>Disturbing reports continue to emerge about mass graves in Gaza in which Palestinian victims were<strong>\u00a0reportedly found stripped naked with their hands tied<\/strong>, prompting renewed concerns about\u00a0<strong>possible war crimes<\/strong> amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"block-views-block-content-fields-block-body\" class=\"views-element-container block block-views block-views-block-content-fields-block-body\">\n<div class=\"block-content block__content\">\n<div class=\"view view-content-fields view-id-content_fields view-display-id-block_body js-view-dom-id-9ed6c59f08613baa3a1b4de3836328d31c63b21d859ea123e64b9f45011c01ce\">\n<div class=\"view-content\">\n<div class=\"views-row\">\n<div class=\"views-field views-field-field-news-story\">\n<div class=\"field-content\">\n<div class=\"paragraph paragraph--type--one-column-text paragraph--view-mode--default\">\n<div class=\"_none\">\n<div class=\"w-100\">\n<div class=\"layout row layout-builder__layout\">\n<div class=\"col-12\">\n<div class=\"_none block block-layout-builder block-field-block-paragraph-one-column-text-field-text-column\">\n<div class=\"block-content block__content\">\n<div class=\"clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-text-column field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item\">\n<p>The development follows the recovery of hundreds of\u00a0<strong>bodies \u201cburied deep in the ground and covered with waste\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0over the weekend at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, central Gaza, and at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City in the north. A total of 283 bodies were recovered at Nasser Hospital, of which 42 were identified.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<strong>Among the deceased were allegedly older people, women and wounded,<\/strong>\u00a0while others were found tied with their hands\u2026tied and stripped of their clothes,\u201d said Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Al-Shifa discovery<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Citing the local health authorities in Gaza, Ms. Shamdasani added that more bodies had been found at Al-Shifa Hospital.<\/p>\n<p>The large health complex was the enclave\u2019s main tertiary facility before war erupted on 7 October. It was the focus of an Israeli military incursion to root out Hamas militants allegedly operating inside which ended at the beginning of this month. After two weeks of intense clashes, UN humanitarians assessed the site and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/news.un.org\/en\/story\/2024\/04\/1148316\">confirmed<\/a>\u00a0on 5 April that Al-Shifa was \u201can empty shell\u201d, with most equipment reduced to ashes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cReports suggest that there were\u00a0<strong>30 Palestinian bodies buried in two graves<\/strong>\u00a0in the courtyard of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City; one in front of the emergency building and the others in front of the dialysis building,\u201d Ms. Shamdasani told journalists in Geneva.<\/p>\n<p>The bodies of 12 Palestinians have now been identified from these locations at Al-Shifa, the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/EN\/pages\/home.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">OHCHR<\/a>\u00a0spokesperson continued, but identification has not yet been possible for the remaining individuals.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are reports that the hands of some of these bodies were also tied,\u201d Ms. Shamdasani said, adding that there could be \u201cmany more\u201d victims, \u201cdespite the claim by the Israeli Defense Forces to have killed 200 Palestinians during the Al-Shifa medical complex operation\u201d.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>200 days of horror<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Some 200 days since intense Israeli bombardment began in response to Hamas-led terror attacks in southern Israel, UN human rights chief Volker T\u00fcrk expressed his horror at the destruction of Nasser and Al-Shifa hospitals and the reported discovery of mass graves.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<strong>The intentional killing of civilians, detainees and others who are\u00a0<\/strong><em><strong>hors de combat\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><strong>is a war crime<\/strong>,\u201d Mr. T\u00fcrk said in a call for independent investigations into the deaths.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Mounting toll<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>As of 22 April, more than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, including 14,685 children and 9,670 women, the High Commissioner\u2019s office said, citing the enclave\u2019s health authorities. Another 77,084 have been injured, and over 7,000 others are assumed to be under the rubble.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<strong>Every 10 minutes a child is killed or wounded<\/strong>. They are protected under the laws of war, and yet they are ones who are disproportionately paying the ultimate price in this war,\u201d said the High Commissioner.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>T\u00fcrk warning<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The UN rights chief also reiterated his\u00a0<strong>warning against a full-scale Israeli incursion of Rafah<\/strong>, where an estimated 1.2 million Gazans \u201chave been forcibly cornered\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe world\u2019s leaders stand united on the imperative of protecting the civilian population trapped in Rafah,\u201d the High Commissioner said in a statement, which also condemned Israeli strikes against Rafah in recent days that mainly killed women and children.<\/p>\n<p>This included an attack on an apartment building in the Tal Al Sultan area on 19 April which killed nine Palestinians \u201cincluding six children and two women\u201d, along with a strike on As Shabora Camp in Rafah a day later that reportedly left four dead, including a girl and a pregnant woman.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe latest images of a premature child taken from the womb of her dying mother, of the adjacent two houses where 15 children and five women were killed,\u00a0<strong>this is beyond warfare<\/strong>,\u201d said Mr. T\u00fcrk.<\/p>\n<p>The High Commissioner decried the \u201cunspeakable suffering\u201d caused by months of warfare and appealed once again for \u201cthe resulting misery and destruction, starvation and disease and the risk of wider conflict\u201d to end.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. T\u00fcrk also reiterated his call for an immediate ceasefire, the release of all remaining hostages taken from Israel and those held in arbitrary detention and the unfettered flow of humanitarian aid.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_225148\" style=\"width: 1181px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-225148\" class=\"size-full wp-image-225148\" src=\"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/image1170x530cropped-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1171\" height=\"530\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/image1170x530cropped-1.jpg 1171w, https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/image1170x530cropped-1-300x136.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/image1170x530cropped-1-1024x463.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/image1170x530cropped-1-768x348.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1171px) 100vw, 1171px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-225148\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u00a9 WHO<br \/>A young girl is transferred from the Kamal Adwan hospital, in the far north of Gaza to a hospital in the south of the enclave. (file)<\/p><\/div>\n<h2><strong>Massive settler attacks in West Bank<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Turning to the West Bank, the UN rights chief said that grave human rights violations had continued there \u201cunabated\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>This was despite\u00a0<strong>international condemnation of \u201cmassive settler attacks\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0between 12 and 14 April \u201cthat had been facilitated by the Israeli Security Forces (ISF)\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Settler violence has been organized \u201cwith the\u00a0<strong>support, protection, and participation of the ISF\u201d<\/strong>, Mr. T\u00fcrk insisted, before describing a 50-hour long operation into Nur Shams refugee camp and Tulkarem city starting on 18 April.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe ISF deployed ground troops, bulldozers and drones and sealed the camp. Fourteen Palestinians were killed, three of them children,\u201d the UN rights chief said, noting that 10 ISF members had been injured.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement, Mr. T\u00fcrk also highlighted reports that several Palestinians had been unlawfully killed in the Nur Shams operation \u201cand that\u00a0<strong>the ISF used unarmed Palestinians to shield their forces from attack and killed others in apparent extrajudicial executions\u201d<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Dozens were reportedly detained and ill-treated while the ISF \u201cinflicted unprecedented and apparently wanton destruction on the camp and its infrastructure\u201d, the High Commissioner said.<\/p>\n<p>___<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/news.un.org\/en\/story\/2024\/04\/1148876\">https:\/\/news.un.org\/en\/story\/2024\/04\/1148876<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-225144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=225144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225144\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=225144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=225144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=225144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}