DayofPal– Gaza’s Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs has condemned a “heinous and barbaric” crime committed by Israeli forces in Khan Younis.
According to the Ministry, Israeli military units stormed the Turkish Cemetery in the Al-Mawasi area west of Khan Younis, exhumed graves, and removed the bodies of the deceased, an act the Ministry labeled as a “flagrant violation of human dignity and international norms.”
Military vehicles, including tanks and bulldozers, reportedly entered the cemetery compound during a broader military operation in the southern Gaza Strip.
The incursion coincided with the demolition of makeshift shelters for displaced Palestinians near the cemetery, resulting in the forced displacement of hundreds of families.
In an official statement, the Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs said the act “defies all humanity and strips away every religious, moral, and international value.”
The Ministry emphasized that the desecration of graves and removal of remains constitutes a severe breach of religious sanctity and international humanitarian law, which protects the dignity of the dead even during wartime.
“This crime reveals the moral depravity of the occupation,” the statement read, “which is not content with killing the living but has now pursued the dead in their graves.
The Ministry further said that this is not an isolated incident, stating that approximately 40 cemeteries across Gaza have been partially or completely destroyed by Israeli forces since the beginning of the war.
Officials accuse the Israeli military of targeting burial grounds under “false and flimsy pretexts.”
Calling for accountability, the Ministry urged international legal bodies, human rights organizations, and the global community to launch an urgent investigation into the incident.
It called on the international community to “uphold their moral and humanitarian responsibilities” and work to end repeated violations against the Palestinian people, both “living and deceased.”
The destruction at the Turkish Cemetery and the surrounding displacement camps adds to the mounting humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where thousands of civilians continue to face the consequences of prolonged war, displacement, and infrastructure collapse.
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