UN Security Council wants investigator access to Gaza mass graves

The UN Security Council has called for investigators to be allowed unimpeded access to mass graves in Gaza.

In a press statement issued on Friday UNSC members expressed their deep concern over reports of the discovery of mass graves in and around the Nasser and Al Shifa medical facilities in Gaza, where several hundred bodies, including women, children, and elderly persons, were buried, Xinhua news agency reported.

They stressed the need for accountability for violations of international law and called for investigators to be allowed unimpeded access to all locations of mass graves in Gaza to conduct immediate, independent, thorough, comprehensive, transparent, and impartial investigations to establish the circumstances behind the graves.

The Council members reiterated their demand that all parties scrupulously comply with their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law, in particular, regarding the protection of civilians and civilian objects.

They reaffirmed the importance of allowing families to know the fate and whereabouts of their missing relatives, consistent with international humanitarian law.

They also emphasised the imperative of all parties to immediately and fully implement Security Council resolutions on a humanitarian cease-fire and humanitarian relief in Gaza.