Not Even the Dead Palestinians can Rest: “Israel” Attacks Gaza Cemeteries

By Staff, Agencies  

As if taking the lives of nearly 19,000 Palestinians was not enough, the “Israeli” army attacked those who were already resting in peace. In recent weeks, Palestinian burial grounds were desecrated amid “Israel’s” ground incursion into the besieged Gaza Strip.

Analyses of satellite imagery and video footage published by the New York Times revealed that “Israeli” forces partially destroyed at least six cemeteries in northern Gaza since the start of their ground offensive in the strip, mostly in recent weeks.

The destruction of these civilian sites could be tantamount to a war crime.

In Gaza City’s Shajaiya neighborhood, satellite images taken Dec. 10 identified armored vehicles and earthen fortifications at the Tunisian cemetery, where tombstones had stood just days before.

One kilometer north-west of the strip, the small Ben Marwan cemetery was partially razed after the “Israeli” army arrived in the area, according to Jake Godin, a Bellingcat Series reporter who analyzed satellite videos and images of the destruction of north Gaza cemeteries in recent weeks.

The same observation was made in another town. In Jabaliya, the al-Faluga cemetery was targeted by “Israeli” bulldozers, as depicted in video footage broadcast on Dec. 13 by Reuters. The footage showed shattered tombstones, upturned earth, uprooted vegetation and what appeared to be body bags strewn across the ground.

Similarly, a cemetery in the northeast Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, was largely destroyed in the second half of November, reported Godin.

The New York Times also identified other cemeteries that were trashed in Gaza City’s Sheikh Ijlin neighborhood, in Beit Lahia and in a locality in the far north of Gaza.

Amid the destruction, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said on Thursday that dead bodies, believed to be those of Palestinian activists, had even been “stolen” by “Israeli “forces.