A mass grave with more than 300 bodies has been uncovered at a hospital in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, Gaza Civil Defense workers said, following the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the area earlier this month.
Suleiman alleged that some of the bodies had been found with hands and feet tied, “and there were signs of field executions. We do not know if they were buried alive or executed. Most of the bodies are decomposed.”
The bodies were then placed in at least one collective grave, the stringer said.
“I haven’t found him yet. We had buried him over there. But we can’t find him. And we wanted to make him a decent grave.”
Another man, who said his brother Alaa was also killed in January, said: “I am here today looking for him. I have been coming here to the hospital for the last two weeks and trying to find him. Hopefully, I will be able to find him.”
Pointing to a fallen palm tree, the man said his brother had been temporarily buried in that spot.
“I had buried him there on the side, but I can’t find him. The Israelis have dug up the dead bodies, and switched them. They took DNA tests and misplaced all the dead bodies.”
The man’s mother said they had been searching for two weeks and had been unable to find his body.
She said the Israelis “have dug out the dead bodies out and they switched them. She and her uncle’s wife were buried at the same hour.”
The mother added: “We have found the body of her uncle’s wife. But the rest we can’t find them.”
“We have information that there are 400 missing people, and we are continuing to search for the rest of the bodies.”
The IDF has said it has removed dozens of bodies from Gaza for DNA tests in Israel, before returning the remains in containers.
