GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Bereaved Palestinians on Saturday reburied bodies exhumed from a cemetery in Gaza City, where the Israeli army has been leading a ground offensive against Hamas militants since late October, an AFP video showed.
The footage from the cemetery in Al-Tuffah neighborhood showed bodies wrapped in bags and laid out on mounds of soil.
Other bodies were strewn around smashed up graves, as a dozen men clad in masks worked with shovels to rebury them, the video showed.
Hamas on Saturday accused the Israeli military of “destroying 1,100 graves” at the cemetery and “stealing 150 bodies of recently buried martyrs.”
When reached for comment by AFP, the Israeli army said they were checking the claims without elaborating further.
“We were surprised to see the bodies exhumed” on Saturday morning, said a local man surnamed Aliwa, who was among the people reburying the bodies. He declined to give his first name.
Without offering evidence, he accused the Israeli army of “running over bodies” with a “bulldozer.”
Imprinted in the soil near the graves were what looked like track marks.
“We are currently retrieving the corpses present in the cemetery,” he said, adding that only a “small number” of bodies had been identified.
The war began on October 7 with an unprecedented Hamas attack on southern Israel that resulted in the deaths of around 1,140 people on the Israeli side, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
The militants also took around 250 hostages, 132 of whom remain in captivity, according to Israel.
Israel responded by bombarding the territory and sending in ground forces, killing at least 22,722 people, most of them women and children, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.
Palestinians rebury bodies exhumed from Gaza cemetery
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Palestinians rebury bodies exhumed from Gaza cemetery
- Hamas on Saturday accused Israeli military of “destroying 1,100 graves” at Gaza cemetery
- Israel’s relentless bombing of Gaza since Oct. 7 has resulted in killing of over 22,700 Palestinians
Pakistan launches first Hong Kong Convention-certified ship recycling yard
- Hong Kong International Convention aims to improve hazardous working conditions in ship recycling facilities worldwide
- Maritime affairs minister says certification reflects Islamabad’s efforts in implementing global environmental standards
ISLAMABAD: Maritime Affairs Minister Junaid Anwar Chaudhry inaugurated Pakistan’s first ship recycling facility certified by the Hong Kong International Convention on Wednesday, saying the move would help Islamabad meet global benchmarks in environmentally friendly ship recycling.
Pakistan became a party to the 2009 Hong Kong Convention in December 2023, which aims to improve hazardous working conditions in ship recycling facilities worldwide. The ship recycling industry in Pakistan and globally faces pressure from calls to adopt safer and cleaner methods.
Shipbreaking is a significant industry in Pakistan, particularly in the coastal town of Gadani in southwestern Balochistan, which was once one of the world’s largest ship recycling hubs. However, business has declined in recent years as Islamabad grapples with a macroeconomic crisis.
Chaudhry inaugurated the Prime Green Recycling Yard in Gadani during a ceremony. He highlighted that the certification demonstrated Pakistan’s alignment with international maritime and environmental standards in a sector long criticized for hazardous working conditions.
“The success of the Prime Green Recycling Yard is a matter of national pride and a clear signal that Pakistan is meeting global benchmarks for environmentally friendly ship recycling,” the Maritime Affairs Ministry quoted him as saying.
“Pakistan is emerging as a responsible country in the global ship recycling industry.”
The statement highlighted that the government was working to modernize the Gadani Ship Recycling Zone, focusing on infrastructure upgrades, regulatory reforms, and improved oversight.
It added that worker safety would remain a top priority as the industry transitions to cleaner and safer methods.
Chaudhry said modernizing the ship recycling sector could create thousands of jobs and conserve foreign exchange by providing locally sourced steel and materials.
“With a responsible and sustainable approach, ship recycling can become a major contributor to economic growth,” he said.
“It will reduce dependence on imports and strengthen Pakistan’s industrial base.”
Pakistan’s maritime sector, anchored by its long coastline and strategic ports such as Karachi, Port Qasim, and Gwadar, holds vast potential for the blue economy. However, it remains underutilized due to infrastructure gaps, policy inconsistencies, and limited shipping capacity.
