The Ministry of Health in Gaza, through its Director General Dr. Munir Al-Barsh, announced today shocking details regarding the bodies of martyrs handed over by the Israeli occupation forces, numbering 120 bodies.

Al-Barsh said that medical teams were shocked by the condition of the bodies. He said they showed signs of severe torture, noting that some of the martyrs were bound in chains. Meanwhile, autopsy results showed that a number of them were executed at close range, while others were left to bleed to death without any medical assistance.

He added that medical examinations revealed that the occupation had looted human organs from the bodies of some of the martyrs, including corneas, kidneys, and livers, which is a horrific war crime and a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.

Israel violate international law time and time again

Al-Barsh explained that the families have only identified six martyrs so far, calling on the families of the missing to go to hospitals and specialised centres within ten days to identify the bodies before they are buried.

The Director-General of the Ministry of Health called for the formation of an independent UN committee to investigate the circumstances surrounding the desecration of the bodies of the martyrs, stressing that these crimes reveal an unprecedented level of violations against humanity committed by the occupation against the Palestinian people.

He also pointed out that the occupation forces’ dogs had mauled a large number of bodies that had been recovered from under the rubble, in a scene that reflects the ugliness of Israeli crimes and their systematic targeting of human dignity even after martyrdom.

Al-Barsh concluded his statement by emphasising that the Ministry of Health in Gaza will document all these crimes with medical and legal evidence, in preparation for presenting them to the relevant international bodies, calling on the international community to take urgent action to stop these violations and hold the occupation accountable for its crimes against the martyrs and the entire Palestinian people.

Featured image via the Canary

By Alaa Shamali

This post was originally published on Canary.