When Ammar Wadi embarked on the perilous journey to obtain a sack of flour for his family from an aid convoy near the Zikim crossing into Gaza this past June, he understood the risk to his own life.
He pre-emptively typed a message onto his mobile phone’s main screen: “Pardon me, Mother, should anything befall me.” He added, “If anyone finds this device, relay to my family how profoundly I adore them.”
Amidst the consistent Israeli firing directed at those seeking aid throughout the summer, Wadi never returned home. Weeks afterwards, the note he composed was finally delivered to his relatives by someone who discovered his phone. That was the final communication they ever received from him.
Wadi is counted among the scores of Palestinians whose families report they disappeared in the vicinity of Zikim, their ultimate fates remaining undetermined.
A CNN investigation now strongly suggests that the Israeli military was involved in pushing the remains of some individuals killed near the crossing into shallow, unmarked graves. In other documented instances, their bodies were simply left exposed to decompose, making recovery impossible within the heavily militarized zone.
Legal authorities indicate that the practice of improperly managing deceased persons by burying them via bulldozer in unmarked graves may contravene international accords.
CNN’s comprehensive review, which also uncovered evidence that Israeli forces utilized indiscriminate fire against aid seekers near the crossing, was compiled based on hundreds of visual recordings and photographs from the Zikim area, in addition to accounts gathered from eyewitnesses and local drivers of the aid trucks.
Furthermore, aerial imagery confirms that excavation activities using bulldozers occurred throughout the summer months in the specific locations where aid seekers met their demise. Two separate video clips, which CNN confirmed geographically belong to the Zikim vicinity, reveal the aftermath of a June incident, showing human remains partially covered in earth surrounding a flipped aid truck.
CNN interviewed two former Israeli military personnel who recounted similar incidents elsewhere in Gaza during the conflict where Palestinian remains were reportedly pushed into shallow graves by bulldozers. They requested anonymity as they lacked authorization to discuss these operational details publicly.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) issued a denial regarding the use of bulldozers to “clear away” bodies, yet they offered no direct comment on whether these machines were employed for interment purposes. The IDF asserted to CNN that the presence of bulldozers near Zikim was a “standard procedure” utilized for operational necessities, such as mitigating explosive threats or for “general engineering requirements.”
According to international legal standards, parties engaged in conflict are obligated to collaborate on burying the deceased in a manner that permits subsequent identification, explained Janina Dill, co-director of the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict.
“The objective is to prevent the departed from becoming classified as missing persons and to allow for acts of remembrance, primarily by their families,” Dill stated. “Moreover, if bodies are intentionally mutilated or treated disrespectfully in a way that undermines their dignity, this action could constitute ‘outrages upon personal dignity,’ which is classified as a war crime under the Geneva Conventions.”
An unanswered query remains, however, as to whether the IDF maintains records of the locations where it has allegedly interred bodies. One individual who claimed to be an IDF whistleblower mentioned that when his unit buried nine people early in 2024, the grave’s exact position was left unrecorded. The IDF chose not to respond to CNN’s inquiry concerning this specific account.
Almost half a year since Wadi vanished, his family remains without clarity on his fate. Rather than finding solace in his final text message, Ammar Wadi’s mother, Nawal Musleh, is tormented by the persistent unknown.
“Whenever he crosses my mind, my eyes simply cannot cease weeping,” she told CNN. “We accept whatever destiny God has ordained for us, but all we yearn for is to comprehend what became of our son.”
‘It resembles the Bermuda Triangle’
Two explicit video records shared online from September 11—which CNN was able to verify geographically—show a continuous flow of Palestinians retreating from the Zikim area, carrying bags of flour while under heavy fire.
In one sequence of the footage, at least one individual carrying flour appears to be shot from behind, with the source of the gunfire seemingly traceable to an IDF position identified by CNN through satellite mapping.
Robert Maher, an expert in audio forensics from Montana State University, analyzed the videos for CNN and determined that the sounds of the shots originated approximately 340 meters (1,115 feet) distant from where the video was recorded, a distance consistent with the identified IDF emplacement.
In the second video, a group is also seen tending to what appear to be one deceased and one gravely wounded person before attempting to move them away, all while the shooting persists.
In a formal communication to CNN, the IDF affirmed that it “does not deliberately target innocent civilians,” adding that in situations where a perceived threat emerges, “fire is discharged for warning purposes or to neutralize the threat.”
Additional photographic and video evidence reviewed by CNN displayed numerous corpses that other aid recipients or civil defense teams were unable to retrieve from Zikim due to the extreme danger present.
On June 15, two firsthand witnesses informed CNN that a crowd of starving Palestinians swarmed at least one aid truck departing the crossing. These trucks are managed by local, private contractors within Gaza responsible for collecting supplies at the crossing and transporting them into the enclave.
Shortly after the truck was enveloped by the crowd, the Israeli military reportedly opened fire toward the vehicle, resulting in numerous people reportedly being struck and collapsing underneath the truck, the eyewitnesses recounted.
An ambulance crewed by civil defense personnel was eventually authorized to approach the area several days later.
“We were horrified by the scene,” one of the civil defense members told CNN, speaking anonymously due to safety concerns. “The remains we collected were severely decomposed—it was evident they had been there for some time; there were signs that animals had fed upon segments of them.”
A captured frame from the visual evidence displays a human body, partially interred, situated close to an overturned aid vehicle near the Zikim crossing. CNN has digitally obscured part of this specific image.
A captured frame from the visual evidence displays a human body, partially interred, situated close to an overturned aid vehicle near the Zikim crossing. This image was provided to CNN.
Videos secured and geographically verified by CNN as originating from that specific locale in Zikim depict a crushed, overturned aid truck amidst a pile of wreckage. Multiple decomposing bodies are scattered around the vehicle, partially submerged in mounds of sand. A stray dog is visible nearby.
The civil defense team managed to recover only 15 bodies; because their ambulance reached capacity, approximately 20 bodies were never recovered, according to the worker. The IDF did not respond to specific questions regarding this incident.
Approximately six local drivers of aid trucks that serviced the Zikim route spoke with CNN under the condition of anonymity, citing apprehension for their personal safety.
They described finding scattered and decaying bodies as a frequent occurrence, noting instances where Israeli bulldozers appeared to be clearing the corpses into the sand.
“I witness deceased individuals every time I traverse Zikim… I actually observed Israeli bulldozers interring the dead bodies,” one driver testified. “Anyone passing through that sector in July could not have missed it; I kept all my vehicle windows sealed shut.”
“Israeli military bulldozers either bury them or cover them with earth,” stated another driver.
Satellite images and photographs corroborate these accounts, showing a persistent presence of Israeli bulldozers from late July through early August. Evidence of bulldozer activity near the Zikim crossing has been traceable from mid-June, shortly after the aid route commenced operations, until September 12, when it ceased.
Some of this bulldozer activity appears correlated with clearing the aid route, which often became obstructed with scattered supplies and debris.
At other times, satellite evidence reveals excavation activity lacking an obvious functional reason, such as a bulldozer moving approximately 30 square meters (322 square feet) of earth into a small mound in mid-June, situated around 400 meters (1,300 ft) from the location where the truck later attended to by civil defense workers was discovered.
The bulldozers were also repeatedly deployed to demolish the remains of structures where aid seekers had previously taken cover from Israeli gunfire, as documented in numerous videos.
Two eyewitnesses recounted that on September 7—while individuals were searching the Zikim area for any indication of missing relatives—they encountered what they claim appeared to be bulldozed human remains.
“I found the bodies there pushed together with the cardboard (aid) packaging… they were piled one atop the other,” Adel Mansour, one of the eyewitnesses searching for his 17-year-old son, told CNN.
One aid truck operator who worked the Zikim lanes commented to CNN: “It’s akin to the Bermuda Triangle; nobody grasps what transpires in that zone, and it seems nobody ever will.”
IDF Sources Speak Out
These records suggesting the Israeli military has used bulldozers to inter Palestinian remains are not confined solely to the Zikim crossing. IDF individuals who served there, speaking to CNN and the anti-occupation veterans’ group Breaking the Silence (BTS), pointed toward a wider pattern of the military improperly handling the deceased across Gaza during the conflict.
One IDF source, who was stationed at an outpost in the Netzarim Corridor, spoke to CNN confidentially, fearful of punitive actions.
The soldier related that the remains of nine unarmed Palestinians were left to decompose for almost two full days near their position in the early months of 2024. The stench emanating from the decaying bodies grew unbearable as scavengers, including dogs, fed upon the remains, he described.
“Our commanding officer instructed the D9s—the bulldozers—to cover the bodies with sand,” he recalled. “To witness such a concentration of dead people nearby, knowing they were unarmed, seeing dogs interacting with their bones, legs, and skulls—it was truly horrifying.”
About the Author
