Above photo: Palestinians bury innocent civilians killed by the Israeli entity’s genocidal bombardment in a mass grave in the town of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023. Mohammed Dahman/AP.
The human rights organization Euro-Med Monitor has urged to probe Israeli war crimes after reports of Palestinian civilians buried alive at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza.
In a report published on Saturday, the Geneva-based group said that “an independent international investigation must be opened into these reports.”
According to Euro-Med Monitor, “Israeli army bulldozers drove into the hospital (on Saturday) morning and destroyed its southern section, leaving behind massive destruction following several days of non-stop attacks and siege.”
Horrific violations
This followed “several days of non-stop attacks and siege,” the group said, noting that “nine days ago, Israeli tanks had besieged the hospital, with Israeli snipers taking over the surrounding buildings and shooting at anyone passing by.”
During the nine-day siege, “horrific violations” were witnessed by the facility, according to the human rights group.
“Israeli forces directly bombed the hospital’s maternity ward on Monday, December 11, killing two women and their two babies and amputating a third woman’s legs,” the report stated, adding that Israeli forces detained the hospital director, Dr. Ahmed Al-Kahlot, “and transferred more than 70 health personnel from the hospital to an unknown destination.”
“Euro-Med Monitor received testimonies confirming that an elderly man was recently starved to death in the hospital, while another was killed after an Israeli military dog was let loose on him,” the report added.
Buried alive
On Saturday morning, before leaving the medical facility, “Israeli bulldozers buried Palestinian civilians alive in the hospital courtyard, according to testimonies (Euro-Med Monitor) received from media and medical crews on the ground.”
“At least one of the bodies could be seen amid the sand piles, witnesses said, confirming that the victim was injured before being buried and killed,” the report added.
Palestinian journalist Anas al-Sharif wrote on X after visiting the hospital following the withdrawal of Israeli forces, that “what the Israeli occupation did inside Kamal Adwan Hospital is a heinous crime against the residents and medical staff.”
The video taken by al-Sharif shows that the courtyard, which contained many tents housing displaced Palestinians, was deliberately bulldozed by Israeli occupation forces.
In the video, al-Sharif showed what looks like a dismembered limb, saying: “This is the body of an injured refugee who was in the hospital and was run over by Israeli bulldozers.”
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 18,800 Palestinians have been killed and more than 51,000 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7. Palestinian and international estimates say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.