Gaza Endowments Ministry accuses Israel of exhuming graves, stealing bodies in Khan Younis

The Gaza Endowments Ministry on Friday accused the Israeli army of committing a "horrific crime" by exhuming graves and stealing the remains of Palestinians in the southern city of Khan Younis.

In a statement, the ministry said the Israeli acts are "a blatant violation of all religious and humanitarian values and norms."

"In a scene that goes beyond all limits of humanity and strips away every moral, religious and international value, occupation forces at dawn on Thursday committed yet another horrific crime by bulldozing and exhuming graves and stealing the remains of martyrs and the deceased," the statement said.

It condemned the actions as "criminal and barbaric behavior that no religion or law permits," adding that Israel "violated the sanctity of the dead and the dignity of human beings after death."

The ministry said Israeli forces have deliberately destroyed 40 of Gaza's 60 cemeteries "under false pretexts."

The Israeli army has killed nearly 57,800 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in Gaza since October 2023. The relentless bombardment has devastated the enclave and created famine-like conditions.