Gaza [Palestine], April 22: Palestinian civil defence crews have uncovered a mass grave inside the Nasser Medical Complex in Gaza's Khan Younis, with 180 bodies recovered so far, Al Jazeera has learned, as Israel has continued bombardment of the devastated coastal enclave for more than six months.
The discovery on Saturday, and continuing into Sunday, comes after the Israeli military withdrew its troops from the southern city on April 7. Much of the Khan Younis is now in ruins after months of relentless Israeli bombardment and heavy fighting.
"In the hospital courtyard, civil defence members and paramedics have retrieved 180 bodies buried in this mass grave by the Israeli military. The bodies include elderly women, children and young men," Al Jazeera's Hani Mahmoud reporting from Khan Younis said on Sunday.
In a statement, Palestinian emergency services said: "Our teams continue their search and retrieval operations for the remaining martyrs in the coming days as there are still a significant number of them."
Earlier, a mass grave was discovered at al-Shifa Hospital following a two-week siege. It was one of several mass graves found at al-Shifa - the largest medical facility in the coastal enclave. Israel's war on Gaza has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, devastated Gaza's two largest cities and left a swath of destruction across the territory.
At least two-thirds of the casualties are children and women. It also says the real toll is likely higher as many bodies are stuck beneath the rubble left by air strikes or are in areas that are unreachable for medics.
Israel launched its war on Gaza after fighters from Hamas and other Palestinian groups carried out an attack inside Israel on October 7 killing about 1,139 people and taking more than 200 people captive.
Meanwhile, Israeli strikes in the coastal enclave are ongoing, including on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where overnight raids killed 22 people, including 18 children, health officials said on Sunday.
Source: Qatar Tribune