Photo source: OHCHR
New York/Washington/Geneva/Tel Aviv: More than 300 Palestinians have reportedly been pulled from mass graves at Gaza’s two largest hospitals Al-Shifa and Nasser this week. The Palestinian Authority had first reported finding hundreds of bodies in mass graves at a hospital in Khan Younis this week after it was abandoned by Israeli troops.
The discovery of these mass graves have intensified demand from various quarters including the United Nations Secretary-General’s office as well as the UN Human Rights Commissioner Volker Türk for an independent, effective, transparent, and credible investigation of Israel’s violation of human rights.
However, the United States today (Indian Standard Time) cited the Israeli Defence Forces’ contention that in search of Israeli hostages, they uncovered graves in the area where Palestinians had previously been buried. And after determining that no hostages were there, these graves were recovered.
“Obviously, the IDF can speak to – specifically about their operations in the region. But we’re also continuing to press the Government of Israel for more information on what this is and what the circumstances are here. And when we have that information, we’ll be happy to share that with you,” a US State Department Spokesperson told journalists in Washington today (IST).
Significantly, an Israeli army spokesperson has dismissed the whole charge, and all that the US State Department could say about this was that “we do expect them to provide us with more information”.
Interestingly, a former State Department security and human rights official, Charles Blaha, while participating in a panel presentation on credible allegations of human rights abuses by Israeli forces this afternoon, claimed during his 30-year-old career, he found the State Department giving “undue preference” to Israel in accepting its accounts of incidents that involve allegations against Palestinians. The Department refuted his claim, stating that there was “no such thing as special or preferential treatment when it comes to the implementation and enforcement of what we believe to be US law”. It went on to assert that the US has a number of measures and efforts in place when it comes to ensuring that there is compliance with international humanitarian law.
At the same time, there are different bodies within the United Nations which could create the mandate and have the authority to create an investigation. However, Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General today conceded in New York, “I don’t believe that the situation on the ground is conducive to investigations at this point. Again, there needs to be a halt to fighting and this is something we’ve called for repeatedly.”
Without Israel’s cooperation, he said, any investigation sounds improbable. “This goes across our work. For any investigations to be effective, all of the parties in the area that control access sufficient to conduct the investigation would need to agree to it,” he added.
The UN Human Rights has gone to the extent of claiming that in the mass graves in Gaza, among the deceased were older people, women and wounded, while others were found with their hands tied and stripped of their clothes. “The latest images of a premature child taken from the womb of her dying mother, of the adjacent two houses where 15 children and five women were killed – this is beyond warfare,” Türk said yesterday, demanding that given the “prevailing climate of impunity, this should include international investigators”.
Yet, hospitals continue to be targeted by Israel in Gaza. Yesterday, Al Awda [Arab] Hospital in An Nuseirat refugee camp, in Gaza’s Middle Area, was reportedly hit. In a social media post, the World Health Organization’s Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said the attack disrupted the solar energy system that supplies electricity to the hospital. Damage to water and fuel tanks was also reported. Over 200 Al Awda staff have been providing services to around 1,200 people each day. Dr. Tedros repeated his call to stop targeting and militarizing hospitals.
At this point, there are many entities on the ground, including the World Health Organization, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. But the situation is becoming alarming day by day.
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported today that there were no humanitarian missions to northern Gaza today, as the Israeli army closed its checkpoints on two roads due to troop movements. As hostilities across Gaza continue, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that it was extremely challenging to resupply and support hospitals working to strengthen and restore services.
So far WHO documented nearly 890 attacks on health care in the Occupied Palestinian Territory since 7 October 2023. This includes 443 attacks in Gaza. Of the 36 hospitals in the Gaza Strip, 32 have been damaged. In the West Bank, WHO reports 446 attacks on health care. Staying in the West Bank, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that, between 18 and 22 April, 18 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces. This includes 14 people, among them 3 children, killed in Nur Shams Refugee Camp during a large-scale operation by Israeli forces. Hundreds of homes in the camp were damaged, and several commercial buildings were destroyed.
Besides, there was a report in Israeli media that Israeli Finance Minister Smotrich was pushing to legalize 68 outposts in the West Bank. The US today termed this reported move dangerous and reckless. “We’ll continue to urge Israeli officials to refrain from taking actions to fund outposts that have long been illegal under Israeli law. Actions or announcements seeking to expand outposts will only move the goal of peace and stability in the region further away,” Washington stated.
Incidentally, the US is increasingly feeling the heat of the war in Gaza, and there are growing cases of mobs taking over leading universities, and attacking Jewish students and Jewish faculty. Today, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took note of this “exponential rise of antisemitism” throughout America and Western societies. “What’s happening in America’s college campuses is horrific,” he stated. He added, “It has to be stopped” and lamented that “that’s not what happened”. He went on to call the response of several university presidents shameful. He went on to justify Israel’s actions claiming it was trying to defend itself against genocidal terrorists, genocidal terrorists who hide behind civilians.
– global bihari bureau
