According to Israel, their intentions were to: first, search for the bodies of Israeli hostages in a certain location after receiving intelligence to that end; and second, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) alleged, without providing evidence, that the digging up of Beit Hanoun Cemetery near Khan Yunis was due to a Hamas command center in a tunnel beneath the cemetery.
It also reported large holes have been created in cemeteries as a result of frequent Israeli attacks, engulfing dozens of graves, and the remains of some dead bodies have been scattered or have disappeared.
[12] The cemeteries named include:[11] On 17 January 2024, only one day after the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor report, NBC reported that earlier that week, Israeli troops severely damaged Khan Yunis Central Cemetery (31°20′53″N 34°17′35″E / 31.348°N 34.293°E / 31.348; 34.293) near Nasser Hospital, bulldozing it over, crushing tombstones, damaging tombs, and exposing graves holding human remains in some of the burial plots.
Ramy Abdu, chairman of Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, stated that the attack, considering previous Israeli assaults on Palestinian cemeteries, indicated that Israel "systematically violates the sanctity of the deceased and their graves".
[5] CNN reported on 20 January 2024 that a total of sixteen Gaza cemeteries had been damaged, publishing before and after photos of several and specifying seven in total:[1] At Al Falouja, Al-Tuffah, and Sheik Ijlin, CNN reported "destroyed tombstones and heavy tread marks pointed to heavily armored vehicles or tanks driving over graves".
[18] In March, an Israeli F-16 airstrike on a recently built cemetery in Jabalia resulted in human remains coming out of the soil and needing to be reburied.
[22] In April 2024, the Gaza Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs stated the IDF had mutilated corpses, including postmortem decapitations and dismemberment.
[23] In September 2024, footage surfaced showing Israeli soldiers discarding the bodies of three deceased Palestinians from a rooftop during a raid in Qabatiya, located in the occupied West Bank near Jenin.
Zaher Al-Wahadi, head of the Palestinian Health Information Centre, noted that no details were provided about their identities or circumstances of death, marking the fifth instance of such unidentified bodies being received.
[25] Aymun Moosavi, a student of MA International Conflict Studies at King's College London,[3] and Randa May Wahbe, a Harvard PhD candidate in anthropology, have described Israeli necroviolence as including:[4]