Mass graves in Gaza following Israel's withdrawal. Photo: The Palestine Chronicle/video grab.
Civil Defense teams in Gaza have exhumed 61 bodies buried at Al-Shifa Hospital, continuing their recovery efforts from the war zone where more than 180 Palestinians were temporarily buried.
Civil Defense teams continued efforts on Saturday to retrieve the bodies of 61 Palestinians buried in the grounds of Gaza’s al-Shifa Hospital during Israel’s months-long military assault on the enclave.
The Gaza Health Ministry said the exhumation process began on March 13, 2025, as teams worked to recover remains for proper burial, the Anadolu news agency reported.
GAZA: Civil Defense teams recovered at least 25 bodies near Al Shifa Hospital in the north.
The area was a temporary burial site for more than 180 Palestinians killed during the Israeli siege on the hospital. pic.twitter.com/gDKN1Yas7W
— Hamdah Salhut (@hamdahsalhut) March 14, 2025
On the first day, Civil Defense workers retrieved 48 bodies, including 10 unidentified individuals. On the second day, 13 more bodies were recovered, three of which remain unidentified.
Known bodies were returned to families, while others were sent to forensic authorities, the report added.
Authorities estimate around 160 bodies were buried in the hospital’s yard during the war, with several more days needed to complete the recovery process.
Repeated Attacks
Shifa Hospital, once Gaza’s largest medical facility, served 460,000 people annually before the war, providing emergency care, surgeries, dialysis treatments, and maternal health services.
Israeli forces repeatedly stormed and destroyed Shifa Hospital throughout the war.
"Israeli forces repeatedly targeted [Al Shifa] hospital.. in April it destroyed the facility and killed hundreds of Palestinians. Mass graves were found within the complex & families of some of those missing Palestinians are expected to help identify the remains of bodies" pic.twitter.com/cV0U8CAo8p
— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) March 13, 2025
The first major raid occurred on November 16, 2023, lasting ten days. A second incursion on March 18, 2024, continued until April 1, during which Israeli troops demolished hospital sections, burned buildings, and carried out killings inside and around the facility, rendering it completely inoperable.
Munir Al-Barsh, Director-General of Gaza’s Health Ministry, told Anadolu in January 2025 that over 95 percent of the hospital’s buildings and equipment were destroyed during the military assault.
Ceasefire Violations
A ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal in effect since January 19, has halted Israel’s brutal assault, which killed over 48,500 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and left Gaza in ruins. However, Israel has violated the ceasefire on numerous occasions, resulting in the deaths of Palestinians.
On Saturday, nine Palestinians were killed, including four journalists, in an Israeli airstrike on the town of Beit Lahia in northern Gaza. According to reports, an Israeli drone targeted a gathering of civilians twice.
In another ceasefire violation on Thursday, two Palestinian children were killed, and two women injured by Israeli drone fire in eastern Gaza City and Beit Hanoun in the north of Gaza.
‘Israeli’ Ceasefire Violations Continue – Drone Strikes Kill Two Children in Gaza
Three Killed Every 24 Hours
Israel has killed 150 Palestinians—an average of three people every 24 hours—since the ceasefire took effect on January 19, 2025, according to the Geneva-based Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor.
In its latest report, the rights group said its field team has documented Israeli sniper and drone attacks since the ceasefire went into effect, as well as the continued use of the humanitarian blockade “as a weapon of slow death by starvation” in Israel’s military assault on the enclave.
The ongoing killings by the Israeli army are carried out by snipers and drones, including quadcopter aircraft, which target Palestinian civilians,” Euro-Med Monitor said.
Phase One of the ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement expired on March 1, with Israel immediately announcing that all aid will be blocked from entry into Gaza. Since then, Israel has also cut off all electricity and water supply to the enclave.
