IDF indicates it dug up graves in Gaza to search for hostages’ bodies

The IDF appears to confirm reports that its soldiers dug up some of the graves in a Gaza cemetery, explaining that it took the action in order to confirm that the bodies of hostages were not buried there.

Responding to an NBC query on the matter, the IDF says in a statement that it is “committed to fulfilling its urgent mission to rescue the hostages and find and return the bodies of hostages that are held in Gaza.”

“When critical intelligence or operational information is received, the IDF conducts precise hostage rescue operations in the specific locations where information indicates that the bodies of hostages may be located,” the statement continues.

“The hostage identification process, conducted at a secure and alternative location, ensures optimal professional conditions and respect for the deceased. Bodies determined not to be those of hostages are returned with dignity and respect.”

“If not for Hamas’s reprehensible decision to take Israeli men, women, children and babies as hostages, the need for such searches… would not exist.”