Indian and Ottoman Turkish sections targeted in Gaza's Commonwealth cemeteries
Satellite images show major damage to historic WW1 sites
A recent investigation by CNN found at least 16 cemeteries in the Occupied Gaza Strip have been damaged or destroyed by Israeli military forces, revealing, they argued, a systematic practice by the Israeli military. The damage they found included the leveling of cemeteries by bulldozer, disinterring of burials, construction of outposts, and, in cases, removal of cadavers by Israeli forces for claimed hostage recovery operations.
CNN’s investigation contrasted this damage to cemeteries, which are protected by international law as ‘civilian objects’, with efforts by the same forces to minimise damage to the two Commonwealth war cemeteries in Gaza. They found these sites to have suffered some damage but to be mostly intact. They contain over 4,000 war graves of British and some Ottoman imperial forces from WW1, as well as Allied WW2 and UN Indian and Canadian peacekeeper burials.
Closer inspection of recent satellite imagery shows that the Indian and the joint Ottoman and Egyptian sections of these sites, in particular, have been seriously damaged or destroyed. These sections, built besides the main cemeteries, containing Hindu, Muslim and Sikh burials, without individual headstones, have suffered such targeted and severe turf damage that they appear either erased or barely visible in the satellite images.
The Gaza war cemeteries are funded by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC), formerly the Imperial War Graves Commission, which is led by the UK in partnership with five other nations, Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand and South Africa. When created, after 1917, the land was presented by British authorities as “the free gift of the people of Palestine for the perpetual resting place of those of the allied armies who fell in the War Of 1914-1918 and are honored here.” They are known locally as the ‘English Cemetery’ and contain burials from all the Commission partner nations, though mostly from Britain. There are burials from other nations, including Egypt, Turkey (Ottoman), Ireland, Poland, Greece and from the West Indies.
Deir El-Belah War Cemetery near Az-Zawaida village, central Occupied Gaza Strip, holds the remains of some 724 British imperial forces from WW1. Images from January of this year, including some taken by Israeli military forces, show it to have suffered serious damage since the Israeli military operation from October 7, 2023, launched in reaction to Hamas attacks. The major damage to the area of the cemetery commenced in the first weeks of January.
The most serious damage, as CNN reported, appears limited to the edges of the main cemetery. The images show headstone and wall damage, as well as fallen trees and borders. Wrecked vehicles lie on the inner edge of the site with deep tracks in the ground. However, elsewhere in the cemetery headstones are undamaged and turf around them unharmed.
Israeli battalion commander of the 118th Brigade’s 74th Battalion, Lt. Col. Oren Schindler described the condition of the Deir El-Belah site to Israeli media: "(i)t's a really special place, finding a spot that seems like a piece of paradise, with it being green and untouched amid the rubble. It suffered some damage in the battles, but it can be restored.” He said that an enemy weapons and ammunition factory was located in the vicinity and he was uncertain as to whether tunnels lay underneath the graves but said that excavation investigations had not been made “because we didn’t want to violate its sanctity.”
Indian cemetery destruction
Recent satellite images show, however, that the Indian cemetery attached to the Deir El-Belah site, not visible in these on ground images, has been seriously damaged or destroyed. Unlike the remainder of the cemetery, the turf in this area has been turned over.
The Indian section is a mass burial site for 67 men of the British Raj, with two large memorial stone panels commemorating their lives, rather than the individual headstones of the main cemetery. One memorial commemorates Muslim forces and another jointly commemorates Hindu and Sikh forces that served as part of the British Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF), including from labour units. Most of the men came from the Punjab area, now northern India and Pakistan, as well as some from Nepal.
The Indian section was previously considered a separate cemetery, connected to the larger main cemetery of Christian and a small number of Jewish burials. It became a section within the main cemetery and, CWGC, as part of ongoing efforts to redress the non-commemoration of parts of British imperial forces, added panels to the site in 1998 with individual names.
Whilst the main cemetery is visible in satellite images from 31 January as a large square plot of grass with a large stone monument at the northern side, the Indian section of the cemetery is now mostly a sandy colour, with turf turned over and now barely identifiable as having been connected to or part of the main cemetery. It is not possible to tell what condition the two Indian memorials are in.
The images also show significant ground damage to the surrounding area outside of the Deir El-Belah War Cemetery, with whole swathes of land dug up. A significant proportion of the buildings are damaged or demolished. One of these buildings would have been the home of Mohammed Awaja and his family. He had worked for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) in a gardener role and lived on site for over twenty years and had been succeeded by family member, Khalid Awaja.
The main cemetery is clearly identifiable in the centre of the images and its turf appears largely intact, with trees still visible. It has been stripped of bordering trees and foliage. The southern corner of the cemetery, at the bottom of the site in the image, suggests wall and gate damage, matching on ground images. The large stone monument is still visible, though its condition cannot be assessed.
Recent on ground images suggest that efforts have been made to protect these parts by clearing debris.
The images below contrast the Deir-El Belah War Cemetery area before and after recent damage. The main cemetery is in the centre and the Indian (British Raj) section is marked by a black box.
Gaza War Cemetery, Gaza City
The Gaza War Cemetery in the al-Tuffah district of Gaza City is the larger of the sites, with over 3,700 British imperial and Commonwealth burials from WW1, WW2 and post-WW2 conflict. The most serious damage in the area, since launch of the Israeli military operation on Oct 7, occurred from the end of December to the end of January. The cemetery lies in the north of the Gaza Strip where the heaviest bombardment has been inflicted by Israeli forces, with around 73-84% of buildings in Gaza City damaged or destroyed.
Recent satellite images show that the Indian, Ottoman/Egyptian and Canadian sections of the cemetery are severely damaged or destroyed. The local area is also greatly damaged with major ground and building damage. By contrast, the main Gaza War Cemetery area appears relatively intact, with signs of shelling damage, but with the ground having been preserved.
The Indian and the joint Ottoman and Egyptian sections were mass unmarked burial sites. Large stone memorials had been added as collective memorials. There was a single memorial in the Ottoman and Egyptian plot for 184 Ottoman soldiers and 4 members of the Egyptian Labour Corps (see pre-damage image below). The current condition of this memorial cannot be assessed from the present satellite image.
In the Indian section, there was, similar to the Deir El-Belah site, a stone memorial for Muslim Indians of the British Raj, and another for Hindu Indians, mostly from the Punjab. In addition, there was a large stone memorial and a headstone to eight members of Indian UN Emergency Forces (UNEF) who died during peacekeeping duties in Egypt-controlled Gaza Strip during 1956-67. Again, the condition of these individual memorials cannot be assessed by the present satellite image though the areas they stood in have been damaged or destroyed.
The Canadian section for 22 UNEF peacekeepers is visible in the recent satellite images but the outer wall appears to have been damaged or collapsed. The cemetery was closed for burials when UNEF deployed to the region in 1956 but the Canadian UN forces lobbied the Commission for it to be opened for their deceased. Gates with large maple leaf designs under an arch entrance lead to headstones lined against perimeter walls. Serious damage to walls has previously damaged the headstones. In the present satellite image of Gaza War Cemetery, the section remains identifiable, though damaged. It is not possible to tell what condition any of the headstones are in.
Below are pre-damage images of monuments in the Indian, Ottoman/Egyptian and Canadian sections of the Gaza War Cemetery.
Gaza War Cemetery damage
The turf in the Indian and Ottoman/Egyptian sections have been mostly turned over and the two sections are barely identifiable in the satellite images, suggesting systematic targeted damage. The Canadian section is damaged with signs of major wall damage but the extent is not clear.
Much of the local area of the Gaza War Cemetery appears to have been severely damaged, trees and foliage have been destroyed in the neighbourhood and ground turned over. There is evidence of concentrated strikes just east of the cemetery. Building damage includes the Commonwealth War Graves Commission staff office building area. This is where the Jaradah family were based, including current Head Gardener, Ibrahim Jaradah. The family’s connections to the War Graves Commission in Palestine goes back 100 years.
The main cemetery, meanwhile, has sustained suspected shell damage with craters visible in the turf. There appears to be tree damage within the site. However, most of the turf appears green in the January image, suggesting that vehicular encroachment or other destructive techniques applied to the Indian and Ottoman/Egyptian sections have not been used.
The largest sections of these British Commonwealth cemeteries, mostly of WW1 and WW2 Christian burials, marked by headstones with a cross, and a small number of Jewish and other burials have sustained some damage but, images suggest, not extensively targeted.
Images below compare the Gaza War Cemetery before and after damage.
Previous damage
Legal experts have frequently challenged Israel’s military assaults on the grounds of its role as an Occupying Power, and also, its indiscriminate and scale in its use of force. Israel has claimed that it has no policy of creating military outposts on cemeteries and that it has “a serious obligation to the respect of the dead.” Claims of necessity due to tunnel threats remain unproven, even after a CNN team was taken by the IDF to the damaged Bani Suheila cemetery.
Israel has previously made payments for the restoration of Commonwealth cemeteries in Gaza after damage during military actions. In 2008, they made a £20,000 compensation payment for a 2006 military operation during which IDF bulldozers damaged a perimeter wall operation at Gaza War Cemetery, headstones of the Canadian UN section and left track marks over the Ottoman and Egyptian section of the cemetery. Trees were also destroyed. In a separate incident at that time, an Israeli attack helicopter fired upon a large stone memorial in the cemetery.
In 2009, during the IDF’s Operation Cast Lead, over 350 headstones were damaged, structures hit and turf gouged and scorched. After disputing the damages claim, Israel eventually made an ex gratia payment of £40,000 pounds for repairs, reportedly half the amount requested by Britain. The IDF argued that the cause of the damage was unproven, citing possible ammunition explosion or Palestinian attacks but made the payment in acknowledgement of "the good relations between Israel and Britain, and out of respect for the soldiers in the cemetery and our values as a nation."
Sections and histories targeted
In its submissions for legal proceedings against Israel for genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), made in December and heard in January, South Africa cited the damaging of cemeteries, including the Gaza War Cemetery, by Israeli forces. They claimed that the damage to graves evidenced an effort to destroy “Palestinian personal lives and private memories, histories and futures.”
The Commonwealth cemeteries were personal homes and gardens, as well as public heritage sites, to the Gaza staff, and served as places of rest, recreation and education for local people, with the sites hosting regular school visits.
Gaza CWGC staff consisted of a team of six gardeners, including Ibrahim Jaradah, the team lead and Khalid Awaja, gardener, who lived on site with their families at the Gaza City and Deir El-Belah sites respectively. The work has been passed down generations with Ibrahim Jaradah from the fourth generation of his family to work for the War Graves Commission in Palestine. His great-grandfather, Rabie, had worked at the Beersheba site in the 1920s and was forcibly displaced, along with over 700,000 other Palestinians, during the conflict of 1948. He moved to Gaza and began work there and was succeeded by his son, Ibrahim Jaradah Sr, who worked at the Gaza War Cemetery site for some 60 years, serving as a caretaker well after official retirement. He received an MBE from the Queen for his services. Current Head Gardener, Ibrahim Jaradah, took on the role from his father, Essam.
In early November 2023, a month into Israel’s military operation, Ibrahim Jaradah was reported to be in Khan Younis with his wife and two young children. He said: “(w)e are trying to keep smiling for the sake of the children, but we are not safe. Our neighbours have lost their lives.” He added, “(w)e had just finished a big maintenance at the cemetery. On Remembrance Days in the past, officials and ambassadors would come to mark the occasion.” It is the last time he has spoken to the media.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) has adopted an apparent policy of minimal public engagement regarding the war on Gaza. They are responding to queries with a statement including: “We are saddened by the recent damage to the Gaza War Cemetery and Deir El Belah War Cemetery, and when it is safe to do so, we will assess what future repairs will be needed.” They say of both Gaza and Israel staff: “(t)he welfare of our colleagues and their families is our clear priority and we remain in regular contact with them.”
CWGC excluded mention of the war from an online second half year review of 2023. They have also removed images and text from the main Gaza War Cemetery page on their website which covered previous damage to the cemetery during war and also the work of staff - though this information can be found elsewhere on their website.
Such is the harm in Gaza, in the midst of what the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has considered to be plausibly an act of genocide, the CWGC’s silence risks making them, at least, morally complicit. In 2008, when stone monuments in the Deir El-Belah Cemetery were damaged by unknown individuals, suspected to be part of an Islamist group, the CWGC said: “The history of this region is complex. But the right of the dead to lie in peace and dignity is simple and should be respected by all." They called for "every effort to apprehend those responsible."
The evidence shows that Israeli military forces are targeting specific sections of Commonwealth cemeteries for damage or destruction, whilst preserving others. This further challenges IDF general claims of military necessity in widespread excavation and destruction of Palestinian cemeteries and other parts of Gaza. The discriminatory approach also raises questions as to the role of racial and religious based motivations.