Shocking images and facts have been revealed to the public regarding the destruction of dead Palestinian bodies. An investigation by the prestigious media outlet CNN shows that the Israeli army bulldozed the bodies of some of those killed near some graves that were unmarked. In other cases, their remains were simply left to decompose in space, impossible to find in the militarized zone.
The practice of mishandling bodies by burying them with bulldozers in unmarked graves may violate international law, according to legal experts, CNN quotes.
CNN's review, which also found that aid seekers were killed by indiscriminate Israeli attacks near the crossing, relied on hundreds of videos and photos from around Zikim, along with interviews with eyewitnesses and local aid truck drivers.
Satellite images also show bulldozer activity throughout the summer in areas where aid workers were killed. Two videos, from CNN in the Zikim area, show the aftermath of an incident in June, showing bodies partially buried around an overturned aid truck.
CNN spoke to two former members of the Israeli military who described instances elsewhere in Gaza during the war where Palestinian bodies were bulldozed and turned into shallow graves. They asked to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to speak on the matter.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) denied using bulldozers to “remove” the bodies, but did not answer whether they were used to bury them. The IDF told CNN that the presence of bulldozers around Zikim was a “routine matter” used for operational purposes, such as dealing with bomb threats or “routine engineering needs.”
Under international law, warring parties must cooperate in burying the dead in a way that allows for their identification, said Janina Dill, co-director of the Oxford Institute on Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict.
“The goal is to prevent the dead from becoming missing and to allow for remembrance, primarily by their families,” Dill said. “Moreover, if bodies are intentionally mutilated or mistreated in a way that violates their dignity, this may constitute ‘outrages upon personal dignity,’ which is a war crime under the Geneva Conventions.”
However, it remains an open question whether the IDF is tracking down the sites where it is suspected of burying bodies. One IDF informant told CNN that when his unit buried nine people in early 2024, the gravesite was left unmarked. Nearly six months after Wadi's disappearance, his family is still waiting for answers. Instead of finding solace in his last phone message, however, Wadi's mother, Nawal Musleh, is haunted by what she may never discover. "When I think about it, my eyes don't stop crying," she told CNN. "We accept whatever God has written for us, but we just want to know what happened to our son."
