283 bodies uncovered in mass grave at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza

Over the weekend, Gaza's civil emergency service uncovered at least 283 bodies* of people killed and buried by Israeli forces at a hospital in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis.

In a statement to AFP on Sunday, the civil defence agency said the remains were discovered in the courtyard of Nasser Medical Complex. Several of the bodies wrapped in white shrouds were later collected by relatives. Israeli tanks and armoured vehicles had surrounded the hospital on March 26 before a protracted siege took place.

Hospitals in Gaza have been deliberately targeted in the Israeli assault. The World Health Organization said on April 6 that the Palestinian territory's largest hospital, Al-Shifa in Gaza City, had been reduced to ashes by an Israeli siege last month, leaving an "empty shell" containing many bodies. WHO staff who gained access to the devastated facility described horrifying scenes of bodies only partly buried, their limbs sticking out, and the stench of decomposition.

Over 34,150 Palestinians, around 14,000 of whom were children, have been killed by Israel's indiscriminate assault on the Gaza Strip, which began on October 7 after a Hamas surprise attack on southern Israel. The Israeli bombardment and siege have laid waste to large swathes of the enclave and pushed it to the brink of famine.

*These figures were accurate at the time of writing