Satellite imagery and witness testimony confirm that Israeli occupation forces bulldozed portions of the Gaza War Cemetery in al-Tuffah, Gaza City — including areas containing graves of British and Australian soldiers killed in the First and Second World Wars. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission announced in December 2025 that the cemetery had sustained extensive damage to headstones, memorials, and facilities. The Guardian reported the findings based on satellite images showing major disturbance inside the cemetery that was absent in imagery from earlier in 2025.
Witness Essam Jaradah described the bulldozing occurring in two phases, including inside the corner of the cemetery containing Australian graves. The CWGC, which maintains over a million Commonwealth war graves across 150 countries, confirmed the damage and said it was working to assess the full extent of what had been destroyed.
The Gaza War Cemetery holds approximately 3,700 graves, most of them soldiers from the British Empire who died during the First World War’s Sinai and Palestine Campaign. The site is internationally protected under the laws of war, which prohibit the deliberate destruction of cultural heritage and burial sites. Those protections apply regardless of the military context in which the destruction occurs.
The bulldozing of Commonwealth graves produced a notable international reaction — one that stood in notable contrast to the comparative silence that has greeted the destruction of Palestinian cemeteries, mosques, churches, hospitals, universities, and cultural institutions across Gaza during the same period. The Palestinian monuments and burial sites destroyed during Israel’s campaign number in the hundreds. Most received minimal coverage.
The Gaza War Cemetery is protected by international law. Palestinian cultural heritage has been protected by the same international law. Both have been destroyed by the same military forces. The difference in international response to those two facts is a measure of whose history is considered worth protecting.
Israel Bulldozed the Gaza War Cemetery. British and Australian Soldiers’ Graves Were Damaged.
Satellite imagery and witness testimony confirm that Israeli occupation forces bulldozed portions of the Gaza War Cemetery in al-Tuffah, Gaza City — including areas containing graves of British and Australian soldiers killed in the First and Second World Wars. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission announced in December 2025 that the cemetery had sustained extensive damage to headstones, memorials, and facilities. The Guardian reported the findings based on satellite images showing major disturbance inside the cemetery that was absent in imagery from earlier in 2025.
Witness Essam Jaradah described the bulldozing occurring in two phases, including inside the corner of the cemetery containing Australian graves. The CWGC, which maintains over a million Commonwealth war graves across 150 countries, confirmed the damage and said it was working to assess the full extent of what had been destroyed.
The Gaza War Cemetery holds approximately 3,700 graves, most of them soldiers from the British Empire who died during the First World War’s Sinai and Palestine Campaign. The site is internationally protected under the laws of war, which prohibit the deliberate destruction of cultural heritage and burial sites. Those protections apply regardless of the military context in which the destruction occurs.
The bulldozing of Commonwealth graves produced a notable international reaction — one that stood in notable contrast to the comparative silence that has greeted the destruction of Palestinian cemeteries, mosques, churches, hospitals, universities, and cultural institutions across Gaza during the same period. The Palestinian monuments and burial sites destroyed during Israel’s campaign number in the hundreds. Most received minimal coverage.
The Gaza War Cemetery is protected by international law. Palestinian cultural heritage has been protected by the same international law. Both have been destroyed by the same military forces. The difference in international response to those two facts is a measure of whose history is considered worth protecting.