Israel has destroyed a cemetery in the Gaza Strip containing the remains of 22 Canadian soldiers who were killed during the first United Nations peacekeeping mission in 1956, according to media reports published on Wednesday.
Speaking to CBC News, Lia Bons, whose brother Adriann is buried at the site, said the cemetery had been left unrecognisable.
“It’s like there’s no headstones anymore,” she said. “It just looks like dirt, gravel, sand.”
According to the report, an Israeli military officer acknowledged that troops from a Brigade Combat Team excavated the area to a depth of 20 to 30 metres in February to destroy a Hamas tunnel beneath the cemetery.
The officer said no measures were taken to protect the soldiers’ remains, explaining that the operation was carried out under combat conditions.