Palestinian Missing Persons Center calls for independent international investigation into forced burials in Gaza
The Palestinian Center for Missing and Forcibly Disappeared Persons called on Thursday for an independent international investigation into the bulldozing and forced burial operations carried out by the Israeli army for Palestinian civilian victims near the Zikim area in northern Gaza, as revealed by an investigation conducted by the U.S. network CNN.
In a statement published on its website, the Center stressed the need for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to intervene and dispatch specialized teams to search for victims, recover their remains, and ensure their dignified burial.
The Center explained that the investigation—based on hundreds of videos and photos taken around the Zikim crossing, along with interviews with eyewitnesses and aid truck drivers—reveals a grave crime that requires an urgent and independent international probe.
It pointed out that the investigation details the violations suffered by the victims, including their burial in unknown shallow graves, leaving remains exposed to decomposition, as well as civilians being shot while attempting to obtain humanitarian aid.
The Center affirmed that the findings of the investigation align with testimonies from families of the missing and survivors, noting that visual materials and satellite imagery show systematic activity by Israeli bulldozers throughout the summer months in locations where civilians were killed by direct strikes or gunfire.
It added that testimonies from drivers and rescue teams confirmed that the Israeli forces treated the bodies as debris to be pushed aside or buried without identity, while ambulances were prevented from reaching the area for days. Residents reported finding decomposed bodies piled on top of one another, some pushed by bulldozers along with aid boxes.
The Center noted that the investigation also documented similar practices in other locations across the Gaza Strip, in addition to testimonies from former soldiers describing bodies left to decompose or buried by bulldozers around Israeli military bases.
The Palestinian Center for Missing and Forcibly Disappeared Persons reiterated the need for an independent international investigation covering the Zikim area and all locations where mass or arbitrary burials and forced disappearances of remains occurred, to identify those responsible for these crimes.
It called on the ICRC to immediately visit the area, accompany specialized rescue teams in searching for remains, document burial sites, conduct identity matching as possible, and ensure families’ right to know the fate of their loved ones.
The Center also held the U.S. Civil Coordination Center directly responsible for monitoring what is happening near the crossing, urging urgent intervention and disclosure of measures taken to prevent further violations.
Finally, the Center called on all international mechanisms concerned with civilian protection to take concrete action, demand that the Israeli side reveal maps of burial sites and remains, and allow families and medical teams access to them, stressing that such crimes do not expire with time and that holding perpetrators accountable is essential to preventing their recurrence.