As The Guardian writes, satellite images and testimonies from the field indicate extensive earthworks in and around the cemetery located in Al-Tuffah settlement. It is about the area where the graves of British, Australian, Polish and other soldiers who died during the two world wars are located.
Former cemetery guard Essam Jaradah stated that Israeli excavators entered the area on two occasions. According to him, in the first phase, a strip about 12 meters wide was plowed along all sides of the cemetery, where olive trees used to be. In the second operation, as he claims, a little less than one dunum of land was excavated inside the walls themselves.
Jaradah points out that the damaged part is located in the corner of the cemetery where Australian soldiers are buried, and that the excavated soil was used to form barriers. He saw the results of the works after the withdrawal of the Israeli forces at the end of April or the beginning of May.
According to available data, the graves of more than 100 allied soldiers from the Second World War, mostly Australians, but also British and Polish, were damaged. Also affected are four First World War sections, almost entirely devoted to British soldiers.
Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) records show that damage was also recorded to the 54th East Anglian Infantry Division memorial, as well as to India’s UN memorial, and parts of the cemetery containing Hindu, Muslim and Turkish graves.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), after reviewing satellite images, announced that the area was in an active combat zone. According to their statements, during the operations, as they claim, members of armed groups operated near the cemetery and tried to attack Israeli soldiers.
The IDF stated that underground infrastructure had been identified in and around the cemetery, which they said had been located and removed, and that all activities in sensitive areas had been approved by higher command levels and carried out with the “necessary sensitivity”.
Despite the earlier declared ceasefire, Israeli forces continued to operate near the separation lines. According to available data, more than 500 Palestinians, including a large number of children, have been killed since the ceasefire came into force.
(Vijesti.ba)
