Even Gaza’s graveyards have suffered destruction – Technologist

Bombs have dug up the bodies of recently killed people. On the evening of Monday, March 4, civil defense volunteers were trying to collect body bags scattered on the ground after strikes on the Jabaliya refugee camp in the north of the Gaza Strip.

The situation at the Jabaliya cemetery was not isolated. Scores of videos and photos, shot and taken by Gazan residents and journalists, have documented the destruction of at least eight major cemeteries in the Palestinian territory since the start of the Israeli army’s ground operations. They show destroyed tombstones and human remains dispersed from their graves and scattered over the upturned earth.

Israel claimed a Hamas tunnel was located under one cemetery. “But Israeli commanders failed to prove their claim during a three-hour visit to the Bani Suheila cemetery and the surrounding area,” CNN reported on January 28, when it was invited by the army to come see for itself. The fact that the entrance was several dozen meters away did not make it possible to determine whether the tunnel actually passed under the cemetery.

Armored vehicle crossings

On January 20, using satellite images, CNN identified 16 destroyed cemeteries, including that of Bani Suheila. Le Monde’s video investigation unit analyzed satellite images of the enclave taken between October 8, 2023 and January 20. They show that, of the 45 cemeteries listed in the Gaza Strip, 22 have been damaged or totally razed to the ground since October 7.

Destruction can be caused by air strikes, artillery fire, or the passage of armored vehicles. Israeli bulldozers had already targeted the Al-Fallujah cemetery in December. At that time, they opened the way for vehicles and infantry by digging a road. A video shot by Ahmed Hamdan, a local resident, showed the debris from many destroyed tombs and traces of the passage of armored military engineering vehicles.

Earthen fortifications were sometimes erected in place of gravestones, and cemeteries were also used as improvised military positions, as at Shujaiya. The entire cemetery was razed in December 2023. The Israeli army mentioned the presence of weapons and published photos of a rocket launcher, but claimed to have caused no damage.

‘A will to destroy’

In the Al-Namssaoui neighborhood of Khan Yunis, near Nasser Hospital, a number of vaults were opened. For what purpose? On January 18, the army justified itself to CNN, explaining that it had recovered the bodies of hostages: “The hostage identification process, conducted at a secure and alternative location, ensures optimal professional conditions and respect for the deceased.” It promised that any bodies found not to be those of hostages would be “returned with dignity and respect.” In December 2023, the Euro-Med NGO Human Rights Monitor accused the company of “stealing” the remains of activists with a view to future exchanges for the bodies of Israeli hostages.

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