DaysofPal- Gaza’s Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs said Israeli forces have destroyed or damaged 56 of the 62 cemeteries across the Gaza Strip and continue to exhume graves and withhold bodies, which are a blatant and unprecedented violation of international law and the sanctity of the dead.
In remarks to Palestine Online, ministry spokesperson Amir Abu Al-Omrein said the extensive damage has left dozens of cemeteries unusable since the start of the war, calling the targeting of burial sites a grave breach of international conventions and religious principles that guarantee respect for human remains.
“What is taking place in Gaza goes beyond attacks on people and infrastructure,” Abu Al-Omrein said. “It has reached cemeteries in scenes that reflect an unprecedented level of criminality.
The occupation has destroyed land, people, and trees, cut life-support systems in hospitals, and carried out torture and executions of prisoners without accountability.”
Abu Al-Omrein said the ongoing violations require urgent international intervention, calling for the deployment of effective deterrent measures to stop Israeli crimes.
He appealed to the international community, as well as religious and humanitarian institutions, to act immediately. “If you cannot stand with the Palestinian in life,” he said, “then stand with the dead whose graves have been violated without remorse.”
He added that the ministry has issued dozens of statements and submitted repeated appeals to international bodies to document and expose the scale of the violations, but said Israeli forces have continued their actions amid the international silence.
The spokesperson called for immediate steps to halt the violations, directing a specific appeal to US President Donald Trump, as a sponsor of the ceasefire agreement, to pressure the Israeli occupation to stop attacks on Muslim cemeteries in Gaza.
According to the ministry, Israeli forces have repeatedly exhumed graves, removed bodies, and withheld remains, at times returning them without identification. Abu Al-Omrein said thousands of unidentified bodies are now buried in so-called “numbered graves” across Gaza, including civilians killed under rubble and prisoners whose deaths were never officially disclosed.
In a related development, Israeli media on Monday published images showing continued grave excavations in the Shuja’iyya neighborhood east of Gaza City, as part of an intensive search for the body of an Israeli captive.
Reports said heavy machinery, infantry units, and medical teams were deployed in the area, causing extensive destruction.
Palestinian officials say Gaza has witnessed systematic grave exhumations in multiple locations since October 2023, further deepening the suffering of families and obstructing the dignified burial of the dead.
They describe these actions as among the most serious violations committed during the ongoing war.
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