Reburying loved ones in Gaza's mass graves

Israeli army bulldozed many graves while looking for bodies of hostages held by Hamas

A disinterred body is carried from a temporary grave at Al Amal Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, to be handed over to family members for reburial. AFP

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Gazans have been forced to bury family members many times in mass graves as Israel bulldozes sites across the enclave.

Mazen Al Khateeb, 36, had to bury his family members three times, haunted by doubts about whether the bodies were those of his son, niece, and two nephews.

Mr Al Khateeb lost family members in Israeli strikes in November and initially buried his family members in the courtyard of Al Shifa Hospital, which had been turned into a makeshift cemetery due to intense shelling.

Israel then raided the area in operations it claimed were in pursuit of Hamas militants, during which the bodies were dug up by the army and discarded, Mr Al Khateeb told The National.

“We reburied them in Al Shifa's yard. Their bodies were almost intact, but it was clear they were starting to decompose,” he said.

In April, Israeli troops raided the hospital's compound again. Mr Al Khateeb said he checked on the graves after the army withdrew from the area, but they were bulldozed and covered with sand.

“What we saw was a catastrophe. We found no trace of the bodies because they had all been bulldozed and covered with sand,” he said, adding that days later, a mass grave was found nearby, but the bodies could no longer be identified.

“We lost the bodies of the children, but their names were recorded on a collective grave. We now consider that as their grave,” said Mr Al Khateeb.

Gaza's civil defence reported that there were many instances where families have buried their loved ones, only to have Israeli forces invade and bulldoze the burial sites. Troops would examine the bodies searching for Israeli hostages that may have been killed and buried in the area.

Gravediggers and relatives of the dead have had to bury their family members in mass graves as the war continues. Bodies have been left outside hospitals, on roads and in parks, in refrigerated lorries and even an ice cream van.

In May, it was reported that at least seven mass graves have been found on hospital grounds around Gaza – one at Kamal Adwan in the north of the enclave, three at Al Shifa in central Gaza and another three at Al Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis in the south, with a total of 520 bodies found.

About 300 bodies were found at Al Nasser Hospital, which had been raided and damaged by Israeli forces. Some of those buried had been stripped naked, with their hands tied. At least 20 bodies found were believed to have been buried alive.

Ahmad Ghaban, 24, buried his brother Mohyee, 19, in the Jabalia refugee camp last December. He was killed on December 13 and at that time, his family couldn't bury him in a cemetery because the security situation was worsened by heavy fighting.

In May, Israeli forces invaded the camp and bulldozed his brother's grave along with many others. For over a week, Mr Ghaban searched for his brother’s body until he found traces of it in a pile of sand about 100 metres from the original burial site.

“We tried very hard to identify my brother and dug through a lot of sand until we found a piece of the trousers he was wearing when he was killed and buried,” he told The National.

Mr Ghaban along with the neighbours and the civil defence, gathered the remains and bones from the sand pile and buried them in a mass grave in the Al Faluja cemetery in Jabilia.