Burying the body of a child martyr in the vicinity of Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis under the siege of the occupation forces (Reuters)

There is no rest even for the dead in Gaza, as the occupation forces exhume graves, while the families of the martyrs are forced to bury them in the courtyards of hospitals and schools under the Israeli siege, in addition to digging mass graves and hurriedly burying the bodies.

In the Al-Tuffah neighborhood in Gaza City, an Agence France-Presse photographer saw Israeli forces exhuming a grave. Bodies and remains wrapped in shrouds were thrown next to him on muddy ground.

The Ministry of Religious Affairs in the Gaza Strip says that the occupation army “demolished, destroyed or vandalized more than two thousand graves in 20 official and random cemeteries and inside hospitals” during the war on Gaza since last October.

Saida Jaber (43 years old), who was displaced from the Jabalia camp in the northern Gaza Strip to a school in Deir al-Balah in the central region, said how she saw on social media sites scenes of the Jabalia cemetery after it was bulldozed.

She continued, "I felt that my heart would stop. My father, my grandmother, and my grandfather were buried there in the cemetery, as were many of our family members and acquaintances."

She added, "I felt that their souls trembled. I cannot imagine how anyone would dare to dig up graves and violate the sanctity of the dead."

Graves in schools and hospitals

In a school that became a shelter center in the Al-Maghazi camp in the central Gaza Strip, the displaced were forced to dig graves in the school yard.

A woman said, "My daughter is a martyr. She died in my arms. Day and night, there was no ambulance to take her" to the emergency room.

She explained that the school was bombed with missiles, which led to the explosion of gas canisters.

A man taking care of the site indicated that more than 50 people were buried, with between 3 and 4 bodies in each grave. The names were written on bricks or on the adjacent wall.

Mass graves spread throughout the Gaza Strip, with the number of martyrs rising as a result of the Israeli bombing.

Many were forced to bury the bodies in the courtyard of Al-Shifa Medical Complex, the largest hospital in Gaza. Many separated the graves with stones and tree branches.

Among them is Arafa Dader (46 years old), whose son Muhammad (22 years old) was martyred when he was returning to the hospital several weeks ago.

He said that he buried his son in the hospital's back garden opposite the morgue, explaining, "If we went to the cemetery, they might bomb us."

He added, "I put a mark on the grave. Now the park is crowded with mass graves. I can hardly recognize my son's grave."

Many Gazans hope that when the war ends, they will be able to transfer the remains of their relatives to be buried in other cemeteries.

Al-Dahdouh tells his story

Al Jazeera correspondent Wael Al-Dahdouh told Agence France-Presse that he was forced to bury his son Hamza in a cemetery south of Rafah after he was martyred in an Israeli raid.

He continued, saying, "We will transfer him to the Martyrs' Cemetery in Gaza after the end of the war. We want his grave to be close so that we can visit him and pray for him."

In Deir al-Balah, Saida Jaber confirms that she will return to Jabalia to inspect her family’s graves.

She added, "I will die of oppression if she is swept away as well."

As of today, Monday, the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip has left 26,637 martyrs and 65,387 wounded - according to the Ministry of Health in the Strip - most of whom are children and women.

Source: Al Jazeera + French