Israel is facing growing international scrutiny over discovery of mass graves at two Gaza hospitals amid growing concerns that its military may have committed war crimes.
The White House said Wednesday it wanted "answers" from Israeli authorities after the discovery at the hospitals destroyed in Israeli sieges.
Gaza's Civil Defense agency said the day prior that health workers uncovered nearly 340 bodies of people allegedly killed and buried by Israeli forces at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.
Around 30 bodies were reported found buried in two graves in the Al-Shifa hospital courtyard in Gaza City.
"We want answers," National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters. "We want to see this thoroughly and transparently investigated."
The discoveries prompted the United Nations to demand an independent probe into the situation, backed by the European Union.
U.N. officials said mass graves were found in Gaza with Palestinians stripped and bound, raising war crime concerns amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes.
"Among the deceased were allegedly older people, women and wounded, while others were found with their hands ... tied and stripped of their clothes," said Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.
"Some of them had their hands tied, which of course indicates serious violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law, and these need to be subjected to further investigations," Shamdasani added.
"What we need is an immediate cease-fire," she reiterated.
Global condemnations
Germany on Wednesday also urged an investigation into media reports of mass graves at two Gaza hospitals, stressing the need for full clarification, said Christian Wagner, a deputy Foreign Ministry spokesperson in Berlin.
Egypt and Saudi Arabia condemned Israeli war crimes and called for an international inquiry into reports of mass graves in Khan Younis city in southern Gaza.
"It is regrettable and disgraceful that international law and human values continue to be violated so crudely in front of the whole world," the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) condemned Israel's "horrific massacres" of Palestinians, saying the discovery is an indication that "hundreds of displaced, injured and the sick as well as medical convoys were subjected to forms of torture and abuse before they were executed and given mass burial."
The Arab League convened an emergency meeting to discuss Israel's genocidal war, the discovery of mass graves in Gaza and a U.S. veto against Palestine’s full U.N. membership.
Violation of int'l law
Israeli army spokesman Major Nadav Shoshani claimed the grave at Nasser "was dug – by Gazans – a few months ago."
The Israeli army did acknowledge that "corpses buried by Palestinians" had been examined by soldiers searching for hostages, but did not directly address allegations that Israeli troops were behind the killings.
Hospitals, which have protection under international law, have repeatedly come under Israeli bombardment over more than six months of war in Gaza.
Israel without providing any supporting evidence accuses Palestinian resistance group Hamas of using medical facilities as command centers and to hold hostages abducted during Oct. 7 Hamas incursion.
The Oct. 7 attack resulted in the deaths of around 1,170 people in Israel, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
In retaliation, Israel launched a brutal military offensive that has killed at least 34,262 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the territory's Health Ministry.