NEW YORK, December 3. /TASS/. Israeli servicemen are using bulldozers to bury the bodies of Gazans who were searching for food in unmarked graves, thereby violating international law, CNN reported, citing its own investigation.

The TV channel pointed out that these were peaceful Palestinians who were killed while trying to reach humanitarian aid distribution sites in search of food. In particular, according to CNN, such unmarked graves exist in the area of the Zikim crossing in the Gaza Strip, where humanitarian aid was distributed under the UN World Food Programme. In its investigation, the TV channel refered to photographs, videos, and satellite images it has studied, as well as interviews with witnesses from both the Palestinian side and former Israeli servicemen.

CNN cited lawyers, pointing out that "the practice of mishandling bodies [of Palestinians] by bulldozing them into unmarked graves can violate international law." Under it, warring parties must bury the dead in a way that allows them to be found and identified. At the same time, deliberately damaging bodies so that they cannot be identified may be considered a war crime under the Geneva Conventions.

CNN emphasized that officials from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) denied using bulldozers to bury Palestinian bodies in unmarked graves. They claimed that the heavy construction equipment in the Zikim area was used only for routine operations, including removing threats.