Canada to investigate report that Israeli forces ‘bulldozed’ part of Gaza cemetery where Canadians are buried

Student Hala Ziada wipes dust from the gravestone of a soldier killed during the First World War I at the Gaza War Cemetery in Gaza City on Sunday, Nov. 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

OTTAWA — Global Affairs Canada said it is “deeply concerned” by reports the Gaza War Cemetery where nearly two dozen Canadians were buried has been severely damaged or destroyed.

The department responsible for foreign affairs said in a statement it is in contact with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, which manages the grave site.

The Royal Canadian Legion said in a media statement it was “devastated” to hear the reports of extensive damage to the cemetery -- the final resting place of Canadian Armed Forces members and their Commonwealth comrades who gave their lives in service to their countries.

Last week, the British newspaper The Guardian reported that Israeli forces had “bulldozed” part of the cemetery in al-Tuffah last year.

The newspaper said satellite photos show “no visible trace left” of a plot set aside for Canadian UN peacekeepers, and quoted the graveyard’s former caretaker Essam Jaradah saying he witnessed the bulldozing.

The Israeli military said in an emailed statement that it took “operational measures” at the time to “neutralize identified threats” in a combat zone, and that underground tunnels in the cemetery and nearby structures were being used as cover.

“We emphasize that underground terrorist infrastructure was identified within the cemetery and in its surrounding area, which the IDF located and dismantled,” the organization’s statement said. “As has been well documented, Hamas and other terrorist organizations systematically conceal terrorist infrastructure within civilian areas, including by exploiting sensitive sites and civilian surroundings for military purposes.”

This is not the first time the cemetery has sustained such damage -- although because it’s located in a conflict zone, it’s often not possible to independently assess the extent or exact cause of that damage at the time.

The Canadian Press reported on the site suffering damage in 2023 and, years ago, CBC News reported that an Israeli operation against Hamas in 2006 involving a bulldozer breaking the outside walls of the Canadian section had knocked down five headstones.

Greg Mitchell, vice president of the Canadian Peacekeeping Veterans Association, said his group is “disappointed” at the latest reports of the site’s destruction but “not surprised or outraged.”

“We have faith that once the conflict has settled down, the Commonwealth War Graves -- it’s an excellent organization -- they’re going to get folks back in there and any damage that’s been done is going to be fixed. Headstones will be replaced, fencing, landscaping and all that stuff,” Mitchell tells the Canadian Press.

“We’re in a waiting game and watching and we have faith that things will be rectified. But to be frankly brutal, at this time, we’re far more concerned with people who are suffering and dying now.”

The Canadian Press has been unable to reach the Commonwealth War Graves Commission for comment.

A post on its website dated Feb. 9 said commission staff likely won’t be able to enter Gaza soon and are not able to protect the site from further damage.

“As a result of the conflict, the cemetery has suffered extensive damage to headstones, memorials, boundary walls, staff facilities and storage areas,” the unsigned post said.

“Memorials with reported damage are the 54th (East Anglian) Division Memorial, the Hindu Section, Indian UN Memorial, the Turkish section and the Muslim section.”

The commission receives annual funding from Canada and other member countries. While it is now standard practice to repatriate war dead to Canada, the commission maintains war grave sites around the world where Canadian soldiers were buried.

The commission administers graves at some 23,000 locations across 150 countries, including several where there has been civil unrest, such as Iraq, Syria and Yemen, making caretaking nearly an impossible task.

Most Canadians buried at the Gaza War Cemetery were not casualties of the two world wars, but were part of a United Nations peacekeeping operation in the Middle East in the 1950s and 1960s following the Suez Crisis in 1956.

Two of the Canadians buried there had died from landmines and another during an ambush, according to information from the Canadian Peacekeeping Veterans Association. The rest had perished from illness or accidents, such as vehicle crashes.

With files from Sonja Puzic in Toronto

Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press