Dogs sit next to young people standing on a hill in al-Zahra, in the central part of the Gaza Strip, on April 23, 2024 – Photo: AFP
Our summary of the most important events of the Israel-Gaza war.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights was shocked by reports of mass graves in Gaza hospitals. Volker Türk said at a press conference on Tuesday that he was “horrified” by the reports of the devastation in the Nasser and al-Sifa hospitals in Gaza, and the mass graves found at the hospitals after the withdrawal of the Israeli army. The Palestinian authorities announced the day before that many bodies were found in mass graves in the Khan Yunis area after the withdrawal of the Israeli army from the city. According to Palestinian sources, the bodies were found under the rubble of the destroyed building. Among the dead are women and the elderly. At a joint press conference with Volker Türk, Ravina Shamdasani, spokeswoman for the High Commissioner, said that 283 bodies were found at Nasser and 30 at Al-Sifa hospital, adding that the hands of several victims were tied, which indicates a serious human rights violation. The UN human rights office is cooperating with the Palestinian authorities in the investigation into the mass graves. (MTI, Guardian)
Although several rules have come into effect in recent years, problems related to the neutrality of UNRWA, the UN agency that helps Palestinian refugees, still exist, an independent panel investigating the agency’s neutrality said in its report. The investigation was launched after Israel accused the agency of the involvement of dozens of its employees in the October 7 terrorist attack on Israel by Hamas. According to the commission of inquiry, Israel has so far provided no evidence that some UNRWA employees are indeed members of terrorist organizations, but the report published several recommendations to strengthen UNRWA’s neutrality. Israel criticized the contents of the report. Oren Marmorstein, Israel’s foreign affairs spokesman, wrote on X that the report “ignored the importance of the problem.” “The problem with UNRWA in Gaza is not just a few bad apples, but a rotten and poisonous tree whose roots are Hamas itself,” he wrote. (MTI)
A stall stands in front of the ruins of a collapsed building in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on April 23, 2024 – Photo: Mohammed Abed / AFP
At least 34,183 Palestinians have been killed and 77,143 wounded in Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip since October 7, the Gaza Health Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. According to the Hamas-controlled ministry, most of the victims since October have been women and children, and thousands more bodies are likely to remain unaccounted for under the rubble. (Guardians)
