3rd mass grave found at Gaza hospital amid Israeli onslaught

GAZA CITY, Palestine

Palestinian medical teams have discovered a third mass grave at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, the government media office said on Wednesday.

“Some 49 dead bodies have so far been exhumed from the mass grave and efforts are still underway to search for more,” it added in a statement.

At least seven mass graves have been found in the Gaza Strip as Israel continued its brutal offensive on the enclave that has left more than 34,800 people dead and injured over 78,400 others since Oct. 7, 2023.

Three mass graves were found at Al-Shifa Hospital, three at Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis, and one inside Kamel Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, the media office said.

“At least 520 bodies have been exhumed from the seven mass graves,” it added.

Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, called on the international community to intervene to halt Israel’s deadly offensive on the Palestinian enclave.

The discovery of a new mass grave “is new evidence of the brutality of the criminal occupation army in its systematic aggression against our people and the medical sector,” it said in a statement.

“The (Israeli) occupation seeks to destroy the foundations of life (in Gaza) to achieve its plans of extermination and displacement.”

The Palestinian group called on all human rights groups “to document these crimes and send to the International Criminal Court and other competent courts to hold this rogue entity and its criminal leaders accountable.”

Over seven months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January said it is "plausible" that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and ordered Tel Aviv to stop such acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar and Rania Abu Shamala