Via International Business Times
WORLD
International pressure mounts for independent investigations into mass graves found at Gaza hospitals.
By Chelsie Napiza
Published 24 May 2026, 2:03 PM BST
Footage of a French aid worker describing a mass grave holding 300 bodies in Gaza, including small children allegedly killed with their hands tied, has gone viral, reigniting international calls for accountability amid documented evidence of similar conditions at multiple Gaza hospital sites.
Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, a Geneva-based human rights organisation, has been systematically documenting mass graves across Gaza since October 2023, recording more than 130 sites in the territory's northern, central and southern governorates. The most significant discoveries came in April 2024 at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, where Palestinian Civil Defence teams unearthed hundreds of bodies, some of them children, bearing marks consistent with execution. The United Nations human rights chief called the finds 'horrifying' and demanded that international investigators be granted unimpeded access to the sites.
What Civil Defence Recovered
Palestinian families began returning to the Nasser Hospital compound in Khan Younis on 20 April 2024, following the withdrawal of Israeli forces after a months-long military operation. What Civil Defence teams found stunned international observers. Bodies had been buried deep in the ground, covered with waste, and the grave sites sat within hospital grounds that had been converted into a military zone.
By the end of a seven-day search operation, Gaza's Civil Defence had recovered more than 390 bodies from three mass grave sites at the compound. Dr. Muhammad Al-Mughair, head of evidence at Civil Defence, told NBC News that 78 children were among the dead. Of the 165 bodies identified at that stage, approximately 10 were found with their hands bound.
What Civil Defence Recovered
Palestinian families began returning to the Nasser Hospital compound in Khan Younis on 20 April 2024, following the withdrawal of Israeli forces after a months-long military operation. What Civil Defence teams found stunned international observers. Bodies had been buried deep in the ground, covered with waste, and the grave sites sat within hospital grounds that had been converted into a military zone.
By the end of a seven-day search operation, Gaza's Civil Defence had recovered more than 390 bodies from three mass grave sites at the compound. Dr. Muhammad Al-Mughair, head of evidence at Civil Defence, told NBC News that 78 children were among the dead. Of the 165 bodies identified at that stage, approximately 10 were found with their hands bound.
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A reporter captures devastation in Gaza, embodying the perils media workers face amid rising violations. (PHOTO: RAJATONVIMMA/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS)