Gaza — The Palestinian Center for the Missing and Forcibly Disappeared has called for an independent international investigation into the mass bulldozing and forced burials carried out by the Israeli army against Palestinian civilians near Zikim, north of the Gaza Strip — atrocities exposed in a recent CNN investigation. The Center stressed the urgent need for the International Committee of the Red Cross to deploy specialized teams to search for the victims, recover their remains, and ensure dignified burial.
In its statement, the Center said that the shocking evidence revealed by the investigation — based on hundreds of videos and photos from the Zikim area, along with interviews with eyewitnesses and local aid-truck drivers — makes clear that we are facing a grave crime requiring an immediate, independent international probe.
The investigation published by CNN details the severe violations inflicted on the victims, including burying their bodies in shallow, unmarked graves, leaving remains exposed to decomposition and scavenging animals, and firing on civilians who were searching for humanitarian aid.
The Center added that these findings align with testimonies from families of the missing and survivors. Satellite images and visual material show systematic bulldozer activity by Israeli forces throughout the summer in areas where Palestinian civilians had been killed by shelling or direct gunfire.
According to the investigation, drivers and rescue workers testified that the Israeli military treated the victims’ bodies as debris to be pushed aside or buried without identification, while ambulances were prevented from accessing the area for days. Families later found decomposed bodies piled on top of one another, some pushed into pits along with aid boxes — consistent with what occurred in other parts of the Gaza Strip, and with testimonies from former soldiers who described bodies left to rot around Israeli bases or dumped into trenches by bulldozers.
The Palestinian Center stressed the need for an independent international investigation into Zikim and all locations where mass burials or forced disappearances of civilians occurred, and for identifying those responsible.
It called on the International Committee of the Red Cross to urgently access the area, accompany specialized rescue teams to retrieve remains, document burial sites, carry out identification where possible, and uphold families’ right to know the fate of their loved ones.
The Center also held the U.S. Civilian Coordination Center directly responsible for monitoring what happens near the crossing it oversees, demanding immediate intervention and full disclosure of measures taken to prevent such violations.
Finally, the Center urged all international mechanisms for civilian protection to act, compel Israel to disclose maps of burial sites, and ensure families and medical teams have access to them — stressing that these crimes do not expire, and accountability is essential to prevent their recurrence.
