AA / Ankara / Zeynep Katre Oran
The Israeli army destroyed at least 16 cemeteries in Gaza, US news channel CNN reported this weekend, based on satellite images and images posted on social media.
During its ground operation, the army bulldozed cemeteries and even removed remains from graves, CNN reported.
Legal experts cited in the report stressed that the deliberate destruction of religious sites, such as cemeteries, and turning them into military targets violates international law, suggesting that Israel’s actions could amount to war crimes.
Based on an analysis of satellite images and videos, CNN said that in other cases the military appeared to be using cemeteries as military outposts, with bulldozers turning several cemeteries into assembly points.
An Israeli military spokesman confirmed to CNN that the army had desecrated graves in the Gaza Strip and said it was to be determined whether Israeli prisoners captured in the Oct. 7 cross-border incursion by Hamas were buried in those cemeteries.
He claimed that the cemeteries were being used by Hamas for “military purposes” and that the Israeli army had no choice but to target them.
The Israeli army also confirmed to Anadolu that it had desecrated some graves in Gaza to remove the bodies.
They said the operation was aimed at determining whether there were any Israelis buried there by Hamas, and said they were conducting sensitive POW rescue operations at specific locations where information indicated the potential presence of prisoner remains, based on decisive intelligence or operational information.
Israel launched its deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip on October 7 following an attack by the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas that killed at least 25,105 Palestinians and injured 62,681. According to the Tel Aviv authorities, about 1,200 Israelis were killed in the Hamas attack.
Israel’s offensive has led to the internal displacement of 85% of Gaza’s population, severe shortages of food, drinking water and medicine, and 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the United Nations.
*Translated from English by Murad Belhaj
Source: AA
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