Doctors in Gaza noticed the theft of organs such as the cornea and cochlea and vital organs such as the liver, kidneys and heart (activists)
The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor has expressed concerns about the "organ theft" of missing Palestinians and the bodies of martyrs in the recent aggression on Gaza. Government figures estimate there are about 7,<> missing persons, dozens of whom are being held by Israel.
The Observatory called for the formation of an independent international commission of inquiry into the Israeli army's detention of the bodies of the dead from the Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza and the Indonesian hospital in the northern Gaza Strip.
Read also
List of 4 itemslist 1 of 4
Israel rejects accusations of stealing Palestinian organs
List 2 of 4
Suspicions about the theft of organs of Palestinian martyrs
List 3 of 4
Israel accused of stealing organs of martyrs' bodies
List 4 of 4
Including 13 children and accusations of stealing organs. Why is Israel holding 373 bodies of a Palestinian martyr?
end of list
He also pointed to other cases of bodies being held from the vicinity of the displacement corridor to the central and southern Gaza Strip, which he designated on the main Salah al-Din road.
Euro-Med Monitor reported that the Israeli army also exhumed a mass grave that was set up more than 10 days ago in one of the courtyards of the Shifa Medical Complex, exhuming and detaining the bodies of the dead.
He pointed out that while dozens of bodies were released by handing them over to the International Committee of the Red Cross, which in turn transported them to the southern Gaza Strip for burial, the Israeli army is still holding the bodies of dozens of martyrs.
The Euro-Med Monitor raised suspicions of organ theft from the bodies of the dead, including observations made by doctors in Gaza who conducted a quick examination of some of the bodies after their release and noticed the theft of organs such as the cornea and cochlea, and other vital organs such as the liver, kidneys and heart.
Doctors working in several hospitals told the Euro-Med Monitor team that the forensic medical examination is not enough to prove or deny the theft of organs, especially in light of the presence of previous surgical interventions for several bodies.
They stated that it was impossible for them to thoroughly examine the bodies of those killed who were held by the Israeli army under intense air and artillery attacks and the continued flow of wounded, but that they detected several signs of possible organ theft.
The Euro-Med Monitor said that Israel has a long history of holding the bodies of Palestinian martyrs, as it holds in private refrigerators the bodies of at least 145 Palestinians, in addition to about 255 in cemeteries and 75 missing persons whose bodies refuse to be acknowledged.
He pointed to Israel's reliance on holding the bodies of dead Palestinians by burying them in what it calls "enemy fighters' cemeteries", which are mass secret graves located in specific areas such as closed military zones, where burials are carried out anonymously with numbers engraved on metal plates attached to the bodies or remains.
Euro-Med Monitor stated that the Israeli authorities have previously monitored the deliberate release of the bodies of the dead relatives of their owners from the West Bank after a period of detention, which is frozen to a degree that may reach 40 degrees below zero, with the condition that the bodies are not autopsied, which may hide behind it the theft of some organs.
He pointed out that in recent years, Israel has resorted to legalizing the development of justifications for the detention of the bodies of dead Palestinians and the theft of their organs, including the decision of the Supreme Court in Israel issued in 2019 allowing the military governor to temporarily detain and bury the bodies in what is known as cemeteries of numbers. At the end of 2021, the Israeli Knesset (parliament) enacted legal legislation authorizing the police and military to keep the remains of dead Palestinians.
In recent years, there have been reports of the illegal exploitation of the bodies of Palestinian martyrs held by Israel, including the theft of organs and their use in the laboratories of medical schools at Israeli universities.
In her book "On Their Dead Bodies", Israeli doctor Meira Weiss revealed that organs were stolen from the bodies of dead Palestinians to be transplanted into the bodies of Jewish patients, and used in medical schools at Israeli universities for research.
More seriously, Yehuda Hess, the former director of the Abu Kabir Institute of Forensic Medicine in Israel, admitted that the organs, tissues and skin of Palestinians were killed at different periods of time, without the knowledge or consent of their families.
The Euro-Med Monitor stressed that Israel, which is the only country that detains the bodies of the dead and practices it as a systematic policy, and is classified as the largest global center for the illegal trade in human organs, only justifies the policy of detaining corpses as an "attempt at security deterrence", ignoring international conventions and conventions that prohibit this.
He stressed that Israel must abide by the rules of international law, which stipulate the need to respect and protect the bodies of those killed during armed conflicts, while the Fourth Geneva Convention stresses the need for parties to the conflict to take all possible measures to prevent the looting and mutilation of the dead.
The Euro-Med Monitor also stressed that the refusal to hand over the bodies of the dead to their families for burial with dignity and according to their religious beliefs, may amount to collective punishment prohibited in Article 50 of the Hague Regulations and Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Source : Anadolu Agency