Even in death, Palestinians are still denied dignity

To find Ran Gvili, Israel desecrated hundreds of Palestinian graves and the world did not care.Palestinian writer and researcher from Gaza.Published On 28 Jan 2026On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed what he called an “extraordinary achievement”. Israeli forces retrieved the body of Ran Gvili, an Israeli man, who died on October 7, 2023, from a Palestinian graveyard in northern Gaza. Israeli TV showed Israeli soldiers singing a Hebrew song at the site. Western media spoke about the importance of the operation and this “moment of national healing”.Here in Gaza, the Israeli operation to retrieve the body spread fear, pain and death. Israeli soldiers killed four Palestinians near the graveyard and desecrated hundreds of Palestinian graves. Hundreds of Palestinian families now have to search for and gather the remains of their loved ones, and four families have had to dig new graves.What was presented to the rest of the world as a “standard military operation”, was in reality, a serious crime under international law. Grave desecration constitutes a violation of a key provision of the Geneva Convention, which stipulates that dead bodies and graves must be respected.In the Palestinian context, the attack on cemeteries is yet another form of collective punishment. It sends a clear message: that the Palestinian people will be denied dignity even in death.This is, of course, not the first time Israel has committed crimes against the Palestinian dead.Throughout the war, Israel has been attacking, bulldozing and digging up graveyards across the Gaza Strip. By January 2024, CNN reported that at least 16 Palestinian cemeteries in Gaza had been desecrated. Israel justified its actions by claiming that Hamas was using the cemeteries for “military purposes”. Satellite imagery and footage revealed that entire cemeteries were levelled, with Israeli troops converting some into military positions.