Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said on Sunday it had “concerns” about possible organ theft from Palestinian corpses, following reports by medical professionals in Gaza who examined some bodies after they were released by Israel.

The NGO claimed it has documented Israeli forces confiscating dozens of dead bodies from the al-Shifa and Indonesian hospitals in northern Gaza, alongside others in the south.

Medical professionals reportedly found vital organs, such as livers, kidneys and hearts, alongside cochleas and corneas, were missing, which the Euro-Med Monitor called “evidence” of potential organ theft.

They also claimed Israel exhumed and confiscated corpses from a mass grave that was dug more than 10 days ago in a courtyard at al-Shifa.

Israel has previously denied harvesting organs from dead Palestinians without the consent of families, calling such accusations “antisemitic”.

  • girlfreddy@lemmy.caEnglish
    21·
    11 months ago

    I think this is something that has come up before in Nov 2023. Source

    Allegations that Israel harvested the organs of Palestinians, based on a true story published 14 years ago, have resurfaced as the nation’s war with Hamas continues.

    In 2009, an interview with Dr. Yehuda Hiss—former head of the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute—was leaked. Recorded in 2000 by Nancy Scheper-Hughes—professor of anthropology at the University of California-Berkeley—Hiss said that pathologists at the institute took skin, corneas, bones and heart valves from the bodies of Israeli citizens, Israeli soldiers, Palestinians and immigrants, often without consent from the deceased’s family.

    The release of Scheper-Hughes’ recording was in response to an article by Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet. The publication featured interviews with Palestinians who alleged that young men from the West Bank and Gaza Strip were being killed by the Israeli military and their bodies returned with organs missing. Its content was condemned by many leaders and journalists across the world.

    “Whatever was done was highly informal. No permission was asked from the family,” Hiss said.

    The Israeli military confirmed that organ harvesting took place, but that it ended in the 1990s.

    While Israel has attracted attention for alleged connections to wider global organ trafficking this is distinct from the allegations … about the taking of organs from dead Palestinians.