GAZA, (The Palestine Foundation Pakistan)
The Director General of the Ministry of Health in Gaza, Dr. Munir Al-Bursh, has called for the formation of independent international investigative committees to uncover the horrific crimes committed by the Israeli occupation against the bodies of Palestinian martyrs recently returned to Gaza.
Dr. Al-Bursh emphasized that what medical teams have witnessed “defies description and represents a flagrant violation of human dignity and the sanctity of the dead.”
Speaking to Palestine Newspaper, Al-Bursh said that each of these martyrs’ bodies “requires an international investigative committee.” He explained that some corpses bore signs of mutilation and being run over by armored vehicles, while others appeared to have been executed at close range with bullets to the head or chest.
He added that forensic pathologists observed clear signs of what he described as “sadism and Nazi-like treatment of the bodies after death.”
Al-Bursh revealed that the Ministry of Health received 315 bodies via the International Committee of the Red Cross, but only 89 were identified. Due to limited medical resources and the inability to preserve the bodies long-term, 182 were buried in a mass grave without identification.
He further noted that some of the bodies arrived decapitated, handcuffed, or blindfolded. Others showed signs of precise surgical incisions, leading to strong suspicions of organ harvesting.
“We saw carefully opened chests, with hearts, livers, kidneys, and even corneas missing. This is not the first time the occupation has committed such crimes,” Al-Bursh said.
He also pointed out that some bodies appeared to have been mauled by trained dogs, adding, “We received one body that had been attacked by trained wild animals, a horrifying scene that chills the soul.”
Al-Bursh confirmed that the bodies were handed over in inhumane conditions, forcing medical staff to use fish freezers to preserve them temporarily and allow families a chance to identify their loved ones.
“We don’t have enough morgues or DNA testing labs, they were destroyed by the occupation,” he said.
When asked about burying the bodies before completing forensic investigations, Al-Bursh explained that the move was made out of necessity due to lack of resources, warning that, “Losing forensic samples and evidence could cost Palestinians the ability to legally prove these crimes.”
He stressed that the ministry followed limited protocols to collect samples, but urgently needs technical support and international expertise to document the crimes properly.
“The absence of investigative tools could result in the loss of the right to prosecute the perpetrators,” he warned.
Al-Bursh said that the process of identifying the bodies is still ongoing, with families relying on personal markers like clothing, wedding rings, or dental features.
Some families recognized loved ones by engraved wedding bands or distinctive sandals.
In conclusion, Dr. Al-Bursh issued an urgent appeal to the international community, as well as to human rights and medical organizations, calling for the activation of international investigative committees to prove crimes of genocide, organ theft, and post-mortem abuse.
He also urged the Red Cross to provide full records of the martyrs, 182 of whom were buried without identification.
According to the Palestinian National Campaign to Retrieve the Martyrs’ Bodies, Israel was holding 735 Palestinian bodies before the ceasefire. A report by Haaretz on July 16 revealed that the Israeli army is holding approximately 1,500 additional bodies of Palestinians from Gaza at the Sde Teiman military camp.
Furthermore, human rights centers have reported that several Palestinian detainees from Gaza, captured during the Israeli genocidal war since October 2023, died under torture while in Israeli custody.
