The Palestinian Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs in the Gaza Strip condemned the Zionist enemy’s actions in exhuming the graves of the dead and martyrs in Gaza’s cemeteries, particularly at Al-Batsh Cemetery east of Gaza City, where forces dug up graves, removed hundreds of bodies, and threw them outside the burial sites.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the ministry described what occurred as a “blatant violation of the sanctity of the dead and a serious transgression of all religious and humanitarian values, customs, and international laws that guarantee respect for human dignity in life and in death.”

The ministry affirmed that “these crimes represent a flagrant assault on holy sites and the sanctity of cemeteries, and once again reveal the true face of the occupation, which does not observe any moral or humanitarian considerations, even toward the graves of martyrs and the deceased.”

It further noted that Zionist enemy forces have destroyed 40 cemeteries out of a total of 60 cemeteries in the Gaza Strip, the latest of which was the renewed destruction of Al-Batsh Cemetery, along with the exhumation of hundreds of graves and the removal of hundreds of bodies, which were thrown outside the graves. The ministry described this as a dangerous precedent aimed at erasing identity and degrading the dignity of the Palestinian people and their martyrs.

The ministry announced that, “in cooperation with the relevant authorities and specialized institutions, it will exert all necessary efforts to honor the dead and martyrs, work to rebury them in a manner befitting human dignity and their sacrifices, and preserve the sanctity of cemeteries, despite the difficult conditions and limited resources.”

The Palestinian Ministry of Endowments in Gaza held the Zionist enemy fully responsible for these ongoing crimes and called on the international community, as well as human rights and humanitarian institutions, to assume their legal and moral responsibilities and to take urgent action to stop these serious violations and hold the enemy entity accountable for its crimes against the Palestinian people, both living and dead.