New York, SANA-The UN Security Council on Friday called for an immediate and independent investigation into mass graves containing hundreds of bodies near hospitals in Gaza.

In a statement, members of the council expressed their “deep concern over reports of the discovery of mass graves, in and around the Nasser and Al-Shifa medical facilities in Gaza, where several hundred bodies, including women, children and older persons, were buried.”

The members stressed the need for “accountability” for any violations of international law and called on investigators to be given “unimpeded access to all locations of mass graves in Gaza to conduct immediate, independent, thorough, comprehensive, transparent and impartial investigations.”

Agencies said that Hospitals in Gaza Strip have been targeted since the beginning of the Israeli military aggression on the Palestinian territory.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said in April that Al-Shifa, in Gaza City, had been reduced to an “empty shell,” with many bodies found in the area.

Mazen Eyon