The IDF confirmed Thursday that it is engaging in grave excavations in a Gaza cemetery, saying that the purpose behind these actions was to verify whether the bodies of hostages were interred there.

In response to an inquiry from NBC regarding reports about soldiers digging ij cemeteries, the IDF issued a statement: “When critical intelligence or operational information is received, the IDF conducts precise hostage rescue operations in the specific locations where information indicates that the bodies of hostages may be located.”

The statement continues, saying that the hostage identification process is carried out at a secure and alternate location to ensure the utmost professionalism and respect for the deceased. Bodies that are determined not to be those of hostages are returned with dignity and respect.

“If not for Hamas’s reprehensible decision to take Israeli men, women, children, and babies as hostages, the need for such searches… would not exist,” the IDF concluded.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)