According to the Gaza Civil Defense, nearly 300 bodies were found in a mass grave at the Gaza hospital

CNN
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A mass grave containing around 300 bodies was discovered in a hospital in the town of Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip. Civil defense workers in Gaza said this on Monday, following the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the area earlier this month.

Colonel Yamen Abu Suleiman, director of Civil Defense in Khan Yunis, told CNN on Monday that “73 bodies were recovered today” from the courtyard of the Al-Nasser Medical Complex, “bringing the total number to 283.”

Suleiman claimed that some bodies were found with their hands and feet tied, and that there were “traces of field executions.” We do not know whether they were buried alive or executed. Most of the bodies have decomposed.”

CNN cannot verify Suleiman’s claims and cannot confirm the causes of death of the exhumed bodies.

CNN has contacted the IDF for comment following the discovery of the mass grave, including whether the bodies buried at the hospital have been exhumed for DNA testing, and whether they have been reburied. CNN sent several questions to the Israeli military on Sunday and Monday.

Earlier, Raed Saqr, Khan Yunis’ civil defense spokesman and head of the search mission, told CNN that they were looking for the bodies of another 400 people who went missing after the Israeli army left on April 7.

A CNN correspondent who arrived at the scene on Sunday said people had buried the bodies of their relatives killed on the hospital grounds in January as a temporary measure. When they returned after the Israeli withdrawal, they discovered that the bodies had been exhumed – apparently because the IDF had done so. Using DNA testing to determine if any of the hostages in Gaza were among the dead.

The source said the bodies were then placed in at least one mass grave.

One of the men at the scene told CNN that the body of his 21-year-old son, who was killed in January, has not yet been found.

‘I haven’t found him yet. We buried him there. But we can’t find him. We wanted to make a decent grave for him.”

Another man, whose brother Alaa was also killed in January, said: “I am here today looking for him. I’ve been to the hospital for the past two weeks trying to find him. I hope I can find him.”

The man pointed to a fallen palm tree and said his brother was temporarily buried there.

‘I buried him there on the side, but I couldn’t find him. The Israelis dug up the bodies and replaced them. They did DNA testing and lost all the bodies.”

The man’s mother said they searched for two weeks but couldn’t find his body.

Another woman told CNN she had searched for 10 days for the body of her daughter, who was killed and buried on hospital grounds in late January after a nearby apartment building was bombed.

She said the Israelis “exhumed the bodies and replaced them.” She and her uncle’s wife were buried at the same hour.”

The mother added: We found the body of her uncle’s wife. “But we can’t find the rest.”

Saqr told CNN on Sunday that civil defense personnel have been searching for bodies in the medical complex for three days now, and that the operation is still ongoing.

He added: “We have information that 400 people are missing, and we continue to search for the rest of the bodies.”

The Israeli military said it transported dozens of bodies from Gaza for DNA testing in Israel before returning the remains in containers.

The area around the Nasser Medical Complex saw heavy bombing and fighting in January and February. At the time, CNN reported that bodies were being buried on hospital grounds due to the lack of safe access to the cemeteries.