JAKARTA - Authorities in the Gaza Strip have accused Israel of taking organs from the bodies of Palestinians, demanding an international investigation.
Gaza-based state media office said on Tuesday that examinations of several bodies showed their shape had changed significantly due to the theft of vital organs from the bodies, as reported by the Daily Sabah December 27.
Further said, Israeli soldiers handed over bodies without their names, and declined to specify where they were being held.
The media office also said Israeli soldiers had repeatedly done the same thing during the ongoing war in Gaza, including digging bodies from the cemetery.
The statement criticized what he said was "the silence of international organizations operating in Gaza, including the International Committee of the Red Cross, against the horrific crimes committed by the occupation (Israel)."
Last month, the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor also expressed concerns about organ theft by Israelis from the bodies of Palestinians, calling for an independent international investigation, quoted from Euronews.
Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor revealed it following reports from medical professionals in Gaza examining several bodies after they were released by Israel.
The NGO claims to have documented Israeli troops confiscated dozens of bodies from Al-Shifa Hospital and Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza, along with other hospitals in the south.
Medical professionals are reported to have found vital organs, such as liver, kidney and heart, as well as cochlea and cornea, missing, which the Euro-Med Monitor calls "evidence" potential organ theft.
They also claim Israel dug up and confiscated bodies from mass graves excavated last month in the Al-Shifa courtyard.
Separately, Israeli authorities have not commented on the latest allegations. Previously, Israel denied taking organs from Palestinians who died without the consent of the family, and called the allegations an "anisemit".
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" organ theft cannot be proven or denied solely by forensic medical examinations, because many bodies underwent surgery before their death," doctors at several Gaza hospitals were quoted as saying by Euro-Med.
A thorough examination of the bodies found was unlikely given the intense Israeli attack on Gaza, their claims. This follows the comments of Palestinian health officials in Gaza that they were no longer able to calculate the death toll as the health system in the region collapsed.
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