IDF soldiers on Wednesday found a well-preserved cemetery near the town of Al-Mawasi in Gaza in which dozens of graves belonging to World War I veterans were located. Patrolling the area, some of the troops noticed several of the graves were decorated with a Star of David, marking the resting spot of Jewish soldiers who fought in the British Army over a century ago.
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Photos uploaded by the soldiers to the X (formerly Twitter) social media platform, featuring the Israeli flag next to the graves, went viral, with one of the posts even receiving over 3.5 million views. Some claimed that this was evidence that Hamas also preserves Jewish graves, but an inquiry into the matter by the soldiers has disproved the claims.
"This facility is maintained by the UK via local authorities in the Gaza Strip," Lt. Col. Oren, the commander of the 74th Battalion, told Ynet. "It's a really special place, finding a spot that seems like a piece of paradise, with it being green and untouched amid the rubble. It suffered some damage in the battles, but it can be restored. We noticed the Star of David seen on the graves with names like Goldreich. After a few days, we returned to the site and prayed in front of the graves after many years," he recounted.
Lt. Col. Oren added the location was never settled by Israel in the past. According to him, the British developed the site and even renovated some of the graves. "We found about seven Jewish out of hundreds. We photographed the names and the brief descriptions of the battle in which they fell. It was an emotional moment.
“I told myself this wasn't only our battle. We're fighting here because they did the same over a century ago," he said. Lt. Col. Oren described how his forces engaged in battles against Hamas terrorists who fired RPG missiles at them only 100 meters away from the location of the cemetery.
"We located a Hamas factory for manufacturing weapons and ammunition next to the cemetery. We didn’t whether terror tunnels were beneath the cemetery because we didn’t want to violate its sanctity. We found Hamas-built tunnels below other cemeteries. We were amazed to find such a sacred place in this cursed area."