50 bodies found buried at Gaza hospital raided by Israel

Netanyahu vows to ramp up pressure on Hamas, threatening action in the coming days

Gaza's civil defence said on April 21 that dozens of bodies were found buried at a hospital complex previously raided by Israel, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to ramp up military pressure on Hamas.

Mr Netanyahu, who threatened action "in the coming days" without elaborating, has repeatedly said Israel will launch a ground assault on Rafah, despite international concern for civilians who have taken refuge in the southern Gaza city.

The Prime Minister's latest remarks came a day after US lawmakers approved US$13 billion (S$17.7 billion) in new military aid to close ally Israel, even as global criticism mounts over the dire humanitarian crisis in the besieged Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian militant group Hamas, whose Oct 7 attack triggered the Gaza war, called the US aid a "green light" for Israel to "continue the brutal aggression against our people".

Gaza's civil defence agency said its teams had discovered 50 bodies since April 20 buried in the courtyard of the Nasser Medical Complex in Gaza's main southern city of Khan Younis.

"We... are waiting for all graves to be exhumed in order to give a final number of martyrs," said Mr Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for the civil defence agency.

"There were no clothes on some bodies, which certainly indicates (the victims) faced torture and abuse," he added.

Israel's military said it was checking the reports.

Hamas said in a statement that the 50 bodies were exhumed from what it called a "mass grave" in the hospital's courtyard.

Israel pulled its ground forces from Khan Younis on April 7 after carrying out what it called a "precise and limited operation" at the hospital, one of Gaza's biggest.