The Palestinian health minister has called for an international investigation into reports that Israeli forces have buried Palestinians alive in the courtyard of Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern part of the besieged Gaza Strip.
According to Palestinian media, Mai Alkaila made the comment in a Saturday press statement.
She said information and testimonies collected from eyewitnesses, medical teams, and media crews indicate that the Israeli regime’s forces buried Palestinians alive in the hospital’s courtyard.
“Some of them were reportedly seen alive before being besieged by the Israeli tanks,” the minister added.
Alkaila urged the international community “to take serious action to uncover the details of this tragedy and not to ignore or remain silent about reports of war crimes coming from the Gaza Strip.”
Her remarks came after earlier on Saturday, footage released by Al Jazeera television network showed mangled tents and belongings of Palestinians in the courtyard of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia.
“Dozens of displaced, sick, and wounded people were buried alive. The occupation [Israeli] bulldozers trampled the tents of the displaced people in the hospital yard and brutally crushed them,” Palestinian journalist Anas al-Sharif said in a post on X social media platform.
تفاصيل المجرزة المروعة
— أنس الشريف Anas Al-Sharif (@AnasAlSharif0) December 16, 2023
قوات الاحتلال تدفن عشرات المرضى والنازحين أحياء بعد دهس خيامهم بجرافات بساحة مستشفى كمال عدوان pic.twitter.com/fE09XfVHh6
“A terrifying massacre and unspeakable scenes. What the Israeli occupation did inside Kamal Adwan Hospital is a horrific crime against citizens and medical staff,” he said in a later post.
مشاهد مروعة تفوق الوصف من داخل مستشفى كمال عدوان بعد انسحاب آليات جيش الاحتلال الإسرائيلي من داخله pic.twitter.com/gBn6PImSYa
— أنس الشريف Anas Al-Sharif (@AnasAlSharif0) December 16, 2023
The Geneva-based Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor has also called for an international investigation into the horrific act.
Euro-Med said in a statement that it had received testimonies and information from medical and media workers asserting that Israeli army bulldozers buried Palestinians alive in the yard of the hospital before withdrawing on Saturday morning.
Euro-Med added that its teams are documenting what happened in the hospital, stressing the need for an international investigation “into all the horrific Israeli violations that happened to patients, displaced civilians and medical workers in the hospital over the past days.”