Emotions Run High as Families Search a Mass Grave in Northern Gaza 

General view of rubble of houses destroyed during the Israeli offensive, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, March 13, 2025. (Reuters)
General view of rubble of houses destroyed during the Israeli offensive, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, March 13, 2025. (Reuters)
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Emotions Run High as Families Search a Mass Grave in Northern Gaza 

General view of rubble of houses destroyed during the Israeli offensive, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, March 13, 2025. (Reuters)
General view of rubble of houses destroyed during the Israeli offensive, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, March 13, 2025. (Reuters)

Using shovels and their bare hands, Palestinian families exhumed dozens of bodies from a muddy mass grave beside Shifa Hospital.

They hope to move their loved ones' remains, wrapped in blankets or sheets, for a dignified burial elsewhere. But first they have to find them.

“I’m here to search for my son,” said Soha al-Sharif, breaking down in tears. “He wasn’t unidentified. His name was written on his wrist.”

Gaza's Civil Defense said 48 bodies were unearthed as of Thursday afternoon, including 10 unidentified people. The grave has over 180 bodies.

Abu al-Abid, a Gaza City resident, was visibly distressed as he searched for his pregnant daughter's remains. He says she was killed Jan. 13 by an Israeli airstrike that killed 25 of her family members, including her three children.

A shattered hospital Shifa was once the largest medical facility in the Gaza Strip but is severely damaged, with its walls collapsed and scoured by flames and bullet holes. The mass grave is in a courtyard strewn with trash, rubble, and placards bearing the names of those buried.

Mohamed al-Meghayar, a Civil Defense member, told The Associated Press that around 50 of the mass grave’s 180 bodies are unidentified.

Mohamed Abu Salmiyah, Shifa Hospital’s general manager, told AP that the bodies need to be relocated because staffers want to rebuild field hospitals.

Israel says Hamas fighters operated in hospitals during the war, which nullified the protections granted hospitals under international law.



New Israeli Strikes on Gaza Draw Global Condemnation 

Palestinians make their way to flee their homes, after the Israel army issued evacuation orders for a number of neighborhoods, following heavy Israeli strikes, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip March 18, 2025. (Reuters)
Palestinians make their way to flee their homes, after the Israel army issued evacuation orders for a number of neighborhoods, following heavy Israeli strikes, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip March 18, 2025. (Reuters)
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New Israeli Strikes on Gaza Draw Global Condemnation 

Palestinians make their way to flee their homes, after the Israel army issued evacuation orders for a number of neighborhoods, following heavy Israeli strikes, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip March 18, 2025. (Reuters)
Palestinians make their way to flee their homes, after the Israel army issued evacuation orders for a number of neighborhoods, following heavy Israeli strikes, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip March 18, 2025. (Reuters)

Israel's renewed strikes on Gaza on Tuesday sparked international outcry and demands for it to respect the ceasefire agreement.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday he is "shocked" by the Israeli airstrikes in Gaza and has called for the ceasefire in Gaza to be respected.

Guterres, in a statement, called for humanitarian aid to resume for people in Gaza and for the hostages held by Hamas to be released unconditionally.

Israel launched airstrikes across the Gaza Strip early Tuesday, killing at least 400 Palestinians, including women and children, according to hospital officials. The surprise bombardment shattered a ceasefire in place since January and threatened to fully reignite the 17-month-old war.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the strikes after Hamas refused Israeli demands to change the ceasefire agreement. Officials said the operation was open-ended and was expected to expand. The White House said it had been consulted and voiced support for Israel's actions.

Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry said on Tuesday it denounces "in the strongest terms" Israel resuming strikes on Gaza, and called on the international community to step in to stop what it described as crimes against the Palestinians.

Also, Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani demanded immediate international action to compel Israel to implement an immediate ceasefire, abide by the Gaza ceasefire agreement and return to negotiations.

France called for an immediate halt to the violence, the French Foreign Affairs ministry said in a statement.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan branded Israel as a "terrorist state" feeding on the "blood, lives and tears of innocent" people.

A vocal critic of Israel’s actions in Gaza, he accused Israel of committing "genocide" in Gaza. He pledged to increase diplomatic efforts to stop the violence and ensure a ceasefire.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry said Israel's attacks on Gaza amounted to a "new phase in its policy of genocide" against Palestinians and urged the international community to take a determined stance to ensure a ceasefire is upheld and humanitarian aid is delivered. 

In a statement, the ministry added it was unacceptable for Israel to cause a "new cycle of violence" in the region, adding the Israeli government's "hostile approach" threatened the future of the Middle East. 

The Kremlin said it was concerned by what it called a large number of civilian casualties after Israel struck Gaza and hoped that peace would return. 

"Undoubtedly, it's another deterioration in the situation (in Gaza) and another spiral of escalation that is causing our concern," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. 

"Especially concerning of course are the reports of major casualties among the civilian population," he added. 

"We are monitoring the situation very closely and, of course, we are waiting for it to return to a peaceful course." 

The end of the ceasefire in Gaza due to Israeli attacks is cause for grave concern, Germany Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said, calling for talks on the second phase of the ceasefire and further hostage releases to resume immediately.
"The images of burning tents in refugee camps are shocking. I emphasize that international law includes the principle of proportionality, even in self defense," Baerbock said in Berlin.
"I have to appeal here, in particular, to the United States, to its regional influence, to its corresponding potential for influence," she added.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called for the ceasefire to be maintained.

"There’s already been enormous suffering there, which is why we’re calling upon all parties to respect the ceasefire and hostage deal that was put in place," Albanese told reporters.

"We’ll continue to make representations. Australia will continue to stand up for peace and security in the region," he added.

South Africa said it was "gravely concerned" by the deadly wave of airstrikes in Gaza, and raised doubts about Israel's "commitment to a permanent ceasefire as envisaged in the ceasefire plan brokered by the USA, Egypt and Qatar."

South Africa’s post-apartheid government has long been a supporter of the Palestinian cause, and has filed a case at the United Nations’ top court accusing US ally Israel of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

Iran's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that letting Israel resume its deadly strikes and block all aid to Gaza "poses catastrophic consequences for global peace and security."

The United Nations' Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory urged for the ceasefire in Gaza to be immediately reinstated.

"Waves of airstrikes occurred across the Gaza strip since the early hours of the morning ... This is unconscionable. A ceasefire must be reinstated immediately," Muhannad Hadi said in a statement.

The UN human rights chief said he was horrified by Israeli strikes on Gaza. 

"I am horrified by last night's Israeli airstrikes and shelling in Gaza, which killed hundreds, according to the Ministry of Health in the strip. This will add tragedy onto tragedy," said High Commissioner Volker Turk in a statement. 

"Israel's resort to yet more military force will only heap further misery upon a Palestinian population already suffering catastrophic conditions."