U.N. calls for independent probe into reports of mass graves found at Gaza hospitals
April 24 (UPI) -- The United Nations is calling for an independent investigation into reports of mass graves found at two hospitals in Gaza that had been besieged by Israeli forces.
U.N. Human Rights High Commissioner Volker Türk made the call Tuesday in a statement, saying there should be "independent, effective and transparent investigations into the deaths."
"Given the prevailing climate of impunity, this should include international investigators," he said. "Hospitals are entitled to very special protection under International humanitarian law. And the intentional killing of civilians, detainees and others who are hors de combat is a war crime."
The hospitals in question are An Nasser Medical Complex, in Southern Gaza, and Al-Shifa Medical Complex, in Northern Gaza. They were besieged earlier this year by Israeli soldiers hunting militants.
The World Health Health Organization has said both facilities are no longer functional: the Nasser hospital since a military raid on Feb. 14 and the Al-Shifa facility since at least early this month when a WHO team was able to inspect the site.
Over the weekend, the Palestine Civil Defense emergency services organization said in a statement that it had uncovered 50 bodies of people of various ages buried in the ground inside the complex of the Nasser facility, and that teams would continue their search in the days to come.
On Monday, the organization had found a total of 283 bodies on the site, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported, which said the majority of the victims were women and children.
Earlier this month, CNN reported a similar mass grave of hundreds of bodies found in and around Al-Shifa following the withdrawal of troops.
Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas of using hospitals to launch attacks against it and concealed the Iran-backed militia's tunnels. It said hundreds of suspects and hundreds of terrorists who were hiding at the hospitals were either detained or killed.
Later Tuesday, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric reiterated Türk's call for "a clear, transparent and credible investigation" during a press conference Tuesday.
He added they also need more journalists to do their work safely in Gaza to report on the facts.
Türk's call came in a statement that was decrying a series of Israeli strikes over the last few days on Rafah city near Gaza's southern border with Egypt where some 1.2 million civilians have been sheltering amid the war.
Israel has said it will deploy a ground invasion of the city, but has attracted criticism over the plan.
"The world's leaders stand united on the imperative of protecting the civilian population trapped in Rafah," he said.
