The civil defense service in the Gaza Strip confirmed to AFP today that it has proceeded over the past three days to exhume around 200 bodies of people killed and buried by Israeli forces in mass graves inside Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.
“Our teams continue to find bodies inside the Nasser Medical Complex and since Saturday the bodies of around 200 witnesses have been exhumed,” said Mahmoud Basal, a Civil Defense spokesman.
Asked by AFP, the Israeli army has not yet reacted.
For his part, Mohammed al-Mughayer, a high-ranking official of the Gaza Strip’s Civil Defense agency, told AFP that a total of 283 bodies had been discovered in the graves of Nasser Hospital.
“So far, we have found buried the bodies of 283 people, who were murdered in cold blood by the (Israeli) occupation army,” Ismail al-Tawabteh, head of the communications service of the Hamas government that rules Gaza, also told AFP.
Reorganization of UNRWA
The United Nations appointed former French foreign minister Catherine Colonnade to lead a review of the neutrality of the UN relief agency for Palestine refugees in February after Israel alleged that 12 UNRWA staff were involved in its attacks. Hamas on October 7, which triggered the war in the Gaza Strip.
The review of the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) found that it has strong frameworks to ensure compliance with the principles of humanitarian neutrality, although problems remain. It’s a report that could prompt some donors to reconsider freezing funding for the agency.
The UN Secretary-General expresses his gratitude and appreciation to Ms. Colonna, who submitted her final report to him on Saturday as Chair of the Independent Review Panel for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), with entitled “Independent Review of Mechanisms and Procedures for Ensuring UNRWA’s Adherence to the Humanitarian Principle of Neutrality”.
According to the statement of the Spokesman of the Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres agreed with the Commissioner-General Filipe Lazzarini that UNRWA, with the support of the Secretary-General, will draw up an action plan to implement the recommendations contained in the final report.
In this context, the UN Secretary-General counts on the cooperation of the donor community, host countries and staff to fully cooperate in the implementation of the recommendations and appeals to all stakeholders to actively support UNRWA as it “is a lifeline for the Palestinian refugees in the area”.
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