Paramedics and rescue teams involved in removing civilian bodies from mass graves discovered at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis have reported organ theft by the Israeli military and claim that some Gazan victims were buried alive in the newly discovered graves, reports trtworld .com.
At least 392 bodies, including 165 unidentified persons, were found in three mass graves after the Israeli military withdrew from Khan Younis.
Shocking evidence of torture, including shackling and mutilation, has emerged in videos and photographs of the victims.
Worryingly, some bodies show signs of surgical incisions inconsistent with local practices, fueling concerns about organ harvesting, according to a report by the official Palestinian news agency WAFA.
The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor has raised concerns about the possible theft of organs from Palestinian cadavers following reports by medical professionals in Gaza who examined some bodies after they were released from Israel.
The NGO claims to have documented the Israeli army as it confiscated dozens of dead bodies from al-Shifa and Indonesian hospitals in northern Gaza, along with others in the south.
Among the grisly discoveries around Nasser Hospital is the mutilated body of a young girl in a surgical gown, suggesting she may have been buried alive, along with another similarly dressed victim.
Akram al-Sattari, a journalist based in Gaza, told US news outlet Democracy Now: “Some of the people were tied up. Some had medical paraphernalia on their hands, such as cannulas. And when they were taken out of the ground, it was evident that they had been buried alive."
Further suspicions arose from the presence of gunshot wounds, hinting at possible field executions.
The use of substandard burial shrouds, bodies buried three meters deep, and the context of ongoing aggression against Palestinians underscores the seriousness of the situation.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, an official from the Palestinian Civil Defense in Gaza said: "We found three mass graves, the first in front of the morgue, the second behind the morgue and the third north of the dialysis building."
The Israeli army admitted that "bodies buried by Palestinians" were investigated by soldiers looking for hostages, but there was no direct response to accusations that Israeli troops were behind the killings.
Some parents in Gaza told AFP that some of the bodies found had been buried by relatives.
The UN, EU and France have called for an independent investigation into the mass graves. On Thursday, a US State Department spokesman said Israel should be investigated over the mass graves.
Israel has killed more than 34,305 Palestinians, 70 percent of them infants, children and women, and wounded at least 77,000 others.
The Jewish state is accused of genocide in the International Court of Justice.
Experts such as Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the rights situation in the Palestinian territories, say there are reasonable grounds to believe that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.