Palestinian Civil Defense said 392 bodies, including women and children, had been found in mass graves in southern Gaza for the sixth consecutive day of excavations. According to a group that provides humanitarian services in the Palestinian Territory, there are indications of torture and executions by the Israeli military, and calls for a United Nations investigation into war crimes in Gaza hospitals.
At least ten bodies found in mass graves in southern Gaza had their hands bound, while others still had medical tubes attached, indicating they may have been buried alive, Mohammed al-Mukier, a member of the Palestinian Civil Defense, at a press conference this Thursday. And according to Mukher, who provided photographic and video evidence of many of his remains, some of the bodies found in the mass graves at Nasser Hospital were of children.
According to the head of the pan-Arab station Al-Jazeera Civil Defense In southern Khan Yunis, Yaman Abu Sulaiman, where Nasser Hospital is located, three separate mass graves were found on the hospital's premises – one behind the morgue, another in front of the morgue and another near the dialysis building. In some of these places, the official explained, the bodies were piled up, saying “the executions were carried out on the ground.”
The White House calls for retaliation against Israel and a cease-fire
Already on Wednesday, the White House had said it wanted “answers” about mass graves discovered next to hospitals in Gaza. “We want answers,” U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters. “We want to see this fully and transparently investigated.”
On Thursday, a group of 18 countries, including Portugal and the United States, issued a letter calling for an immediate and lasting ceasefire in Gaza in exchange for the release of the hostages. We demand the immediate release of all hostages held by Hamas in Gaza for over 200 days. Among them are our own citizens. [norte-americanos]. “The fate of the hostages and civilians in Gaza, protected by international law, is of international concern,” the White House said in a letter. Guardian had access.
“A deal on the table to release the hostages would bring about an immediate and lasting ceasefire in Gaza, which would facilitate the flow of additional humanitarian aid needed across the Gaza Strip and lead to a credible end to hostilities,” the document added. is reading
Israel has intensified its airstrikes on Rafah in the past few hours. To Reuters, medics in the enclave reported five Israeli airstrikes early Thursday morning, which hit at least three houses, killing at least six people, including a local journalist.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's war cabinet met “to discuss how to destroy the last stronghold of Hamas battalions in Rafah and elsewhere,” government spokesman David Menser said.
Israeli warplanes bombed the northern part of the country for the second day in a row on Wednesday. A senior Israeli security official told the London Agency that before the attack on Rafah Israel was prepared to relocate civilians and had bought 40,000 tents that could house 10 to 12 people each.
Satellite images of Mawasi, between Rafah, Khan Yunis and the sea, stretches only about 5km to 3km of sandy beaches and fields, showing significant camps built in the past two weeks.
*Portugal signs letter demanding release of Hamas hostages Updated at 9:11 p.m.