Nadera Mushtha
Al-Sharqiya Cemetery, near Gaza City, is the largest cemetery in Gaza. It has been inaccessible since the genocide began and many fear it has been bulldozed and destroyed, along with the remains of our loved ones.
Palestinians visit the graves of their relatives after Eid al-Fitr prayers at Sheikh Radwan Cemetery in Gaza City on March 30, 2025. (Photo: Omar Ashtawy/APA Images)
One day, my 13-year-old brother woke up struggling to breathe, and he told us that he saw our grandfather in a dream. Our grandfather passed away in 2017 and is buried in Al-Sharqiya Cemetery, located east of Gaza City near the occupied border. In the dream, my grandfather told him that he had lost his leg when a bomb hit his grave.
No one knows what has happened to Al-Sharqiya Cemetery during the genocide. It is the biggest cemetery in Gaza, where most Gazan civilians are buried. No one can reach it because it is in an unsafe area where Israeli snipers target anyone who tries to approach. But now, every Gazan wants to know what happened to it because everyone fears that the cemetery has been bulldozed and destroyed.
One man shared with me: “Our relatives and loved ones are buried there; we have the right to check on them and know their fate.” Another man, a father of five martyrs, told me, “We must learn what has happened to our martyrs so we can relocate them in a respectful way to graves in a suitable place.” In a sad voice, a woman in the street said, “We don’t know where our dead lie, nor when our turn will come to join them.”
The occupation shows no respect for Palestinians, living or dead. It seems that even our resting places are a threat to them. They targeted part of the old and historic Ibn Marwan Cemetery, which is near the Al-Shujaiya neighborhood where I live. I saw with my own eyes the destroyed graveyard with bones strewn around after a bombing. So, it’s very possible that Al-Sharqiya Cemetery has also been erased and desecrated.
During the genocide, we have barely found ways to bury our dead. None of the martyrs from the current genocide have been buried in Al-Sharqiya Cemetery because it is no longer accessible, but the recent martyrs of Gaza have been buried in several different ways. First, some are laid to rest in other old cemeteries, placed above old graves. Second, some are buried in the streets and in people’s yards. Third, some of them are still under the rubble of their homes. When their relatives searched for their bodies more than a year after their deaths, they found only bones. Moreover, thousands of martyrs have no graves; they were killed, their bodies torn apart or disappeared entirely. Many martyrs are still missing; no one knows where they are, where their bodies ended up, or even where and how they were killed. In addition, there are countless unmarked graves found in every corner of Gaza. Israel has also detained hundreds of martyrs’ remains. Parents want to bury their sons’ bodies in a dignified manner, but even this is not granted to them.
With entire areas strewn with rubble, some Gazans have set up tents to live with their families above some of Ibn Marwan cemetery’s disturbed graves. How can a child sleep at night in a yard that once was filled with the dead? How can a girl seek refuge alone in a bathroom when graves remain nearby? How can a father sleep without telling his children that their shelter stands above what was once a graveyard?
Imagine going to visit your grandfather’s grave one day only to find the headstone was gone as you walk across a shattered land that once held your loved ones. Now the place is devoid of markers, names, or memories. This isn’t a fictional story, but the harsh reality many people in Gaza face today. In Gaza, even the dead are not safe. People can’t even mourn at the graves of their loved ones because they can’t reach them, and if they can, all they find is rubble and bones.
Imagine going to visit your mother’s grave after your return from being displaced in the south of Gaza only to find that the headstone has been shattered, the cemetery erased. Then you find a man who told you that the occupation’s bombs and missiles had obliterated even the newly built cemetery that people created during the war. He had collected the scattered bones and put them together in one mass grave.
Imagine seeing all your recently departed family members buried in a mass grave, then hearing that an invasion happened where your ancestors’ graves were located. After days, weeks or months, you go there just to find your ancestors’ remains in a different place, their bodies destroyed and their shrouds in tatters on the ground.
This genocide must be stopped, so that our city that was once a calm place for both the living and the dead will stop being a rubble-strewn necropolis. We need to feel safe; we need to go to sleep feeling sure that we will wake in the morning, we need to see the future that we dreamed of as children. We need to go to our cemeteries to honor and remember our dead.
Maldives bans Israelis from entering country, in protest against Gaza's 'ongoing genocide'
The ban was done in 'resolute solidarity with Palestinians' and also applies to dual citizens
Tourists visit a beach at Maafushi Island in the Maldives, on 22 October 2024 (Mohamed Afrah/AFP)
The Maldives has banned Israelis from entering the country in protest against Israel's war on Gaza and in "resolute solidarity" with the Palestinian people.
President Mohamed Muizzu signed the legislation on Monday after it was passed by the People's Majlis, the Maldivian parliament.
Muizzu's cabinet initially decided to ban all Israeli passport holders from the idyllic island nation in June 2024 until Israel stops its attacks on Palestine, but progress on the legislation stalled.
A bill was presented in May 2024 in the Maldivian parliament by Meekail Ahmed Naseem, a lawmaker from the main opposition, the Maldivian Democratic Party, which sought to amend the country's Immigration Act.
The cabinet then decided to change the country's laws to ban Israeli passport holders, including dual citizens. After several amendments, it passed this week, over 300 days later.
"The ratification reflects the government's firm stance in response to the continuing atrocities and ongoing acts of genocide committed by Israel against the Palestinian people," Muizzu's office said in a statement.
Gaza's health ministry said on Sunday that at least 1,613 Palestinians had been killed since 18 March, when a ceasefire collapsed, taking the overall death toll since Israel's war on Gaza began in October 2023 to 50,983.
The ban goes into immediate effect.
“The Maldives reaffirms its resolute solidarity with the Palestinian cause,” the statement added.
Last year, in response to talk of a ban, Israel's foreign ministry advised its citizens against travelling to the country.
Chequered history
The Maldives is an Islamic republic made up of 1,129 islands. It is considered one of the world's premier beach vacation destinations, known for its coral reefs, white sandy beaches and picturesque lagoons.
This isn't the first time the Maldives has issued a travel ban on Israelis. The Maldives recognised Israel and established diplomatic relations after Israel became the third state to recognise the island nation in 1965 - but those were suspended in 1974.
A ban on Israeli tourists from a previous era was lifted in the 1990s, and in 2009, Maldives and Israel signed several cooperation agreements to improve relations. However, in 2018, under new leadership, those agreements were severed, and the two countries have had rocky relations since then.
In 2024, the country took in nearly two million tourists, with the top five arrivals from China, Italy, India, Russia, and the United Kingdom. Most tourist arrivals come from Europe (54 percent), and Asia and the Pacific are in second place with 35 percent of all arrivals.
According to the Maldives Ministry of Tourism, 528 Israelis visited the country in the first quarter of 2024, down 89 percent from 4,644 in the first quarter of 2023.
According to government data, over 200,000 tourists visited the
Maldives this February, 59 of whom were Israeli.
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