Geneva – Together – The United Nations Human Rights Office called on Tuesday for an international investigation into the mass graves found in the Al-Shifa Medical Complex and the Nasser Medical Complex in the Gaza Strip, stressing the need to take independent measures to confront the ‘climate of impunity.’

In a statement, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Trk, described the destruction caused to the Al-Shifa Complex, the largest hospital in Gaza, and to the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis, the second large hospital center in the Strip, as ‘horrific,’ stressing the need for ‘independent and effective investigations.’ And transparent.’

He said: ‘Given the prevailing climate of impunity, it is necessary to involve international investigators in this process,’ recalling that ‘international humanitarian law stipulates very special protection for hospitals.’

Trk stated that “killing civilians, detainees and other individuals is a war crime.”

Hospitals in Gaza have been severely damaged by the
aggression launched by the Israeli occupation forces against the Strip since the seventh of last October.

The spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner, Ravina Shamdasani, said during a press conference that the bodies of ‘the victims were buried deep in the ground and covered with rubbish,’ noting that the bodies of elderly people, women, and injured people were found, and some of the victims were ‘handcuffed and without clothes.’

She stated: ‘We are not yet able to confirm the exact numbers of those killed in the two compounds, so we stress the need to conduct international investigations.’

Source: Maan News Agency