Türk has said he is “horrified” by the destruction of Nasser Medical Complex and al-Shifa Hospital in the Gaza Strip and reports of mass graves found in and around the hospitals amid Israel’s war on Gaza.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Türk called for independent and transparent investigations after Palestinian authorities said this week they had recovered hundreds of bodies at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis following the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the southern city earlier this month.
“Given the prevailing climate of impunity, this should include international investigators,” Turk said, noting that hospitals are entitled to special protection under international humanitarian law and called “the intentional killing” of civilians and detainees a war crime.
Earlier, Ravina Shamdasani, the spokesperson for the UN high commissioner for human rights, had said, “We feel the need to raise the alarm because clearly there have been multiple bodies discovered.”
She had described bodies “buried deep in the ground and covered with waste”, adding, “Among the deceased were allegedly older people, women and wounded, while others were found tied with their hands…tied and stripped of their clothes.”
6125**9417