Horrible image in Gaza: ‘They also steal the organs of the people they kill’

Euro-Med Human Rights Watch accused the Israeli military of stealing organs from the dead in Gaza and called for an independent international investigation.

According to Euronews, Euro-Med Human Rights Watch said in a statement that, following reports from medical experts who examined some corpses in Gaza, there are concerns that organs have been stolen from Palestinian corpses. The organization claimed to have documented that Israeli forces seized dozens of bodies from the Al-Shifa and Indonesia hospitals in northern Gaza and from other hospitals in the south.

He also claimed that the Israeli army had exhumed and confiscated bodies from a mass grave dug in the courtyard of Al-Shifa hospital.

Upon examination by medical experts, vital organs such as the liver, kidneys and heart, as well as the cochlea and cornea, were found to be missing, which was described as evidence of possible organ theft. According to Euro-Med, doctors at several Gaza hospitals said organ theft cannot be proven by forensic examination alone, as more than one body had undergone surgery before dying.

Euro-Med also accused Israel of preserving the bodies of dozens of Palestinians killed during its military operations in Gaza since October 7. Israel is alleged to be keeping the bodies of at least 145 Palestinians in its morgues and the bodies of approximately 255 Palestinians in a non-public area near the border with Jordan.

ISRAEL HAS BEEN ACCUSED OF ORGAN THEFT BEFORE

Accusations that Israel illegally uses Palestinian bodies are not new.

Israeli doctor Meira Weiss claimed in her book Over Their Dead Bodies that organs harvested from Palestinians killed between 1996 and 2002 were used in medical research at Israeli universities and transplanted into the bodies of Israeli patients.

A controversial investigation published in Israeli media in 2014 also included claims by senior officials that skin was removed from the bodies of dead Palestinians and African workers to treat Israelis, such as soldiers, with burns.

According to a study carried out by the American network CNN in 2008, Israel is believed to be one of the important centers of the global illegal trade in human organs.

The 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention, which Israel has not ratified, requires parties to the conflict to respect the dignity of the dead and prevent bodies from being looted, mutilated or disrespected.