Gaza War Cemetery

Military cemetery in Gaza City, Palestine

Gaza War Cemetery

مقبرة الإنجليز في غزة

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Entrance to the cemetery

For Allied and Commonwealth soldiers who died in World War I and World War II
Established| 1920
Location| 31°30′42″N 34°28′56″E﻿ / ﻿31.5118°N 34.4822°E﻿ / 31.5118; 34.4822

Tuffah, Gaza City, Palestine

near

Gaza City

Total burials| 3,691

Unknowns

| Nearly 800
Commemorated| 3,217 British and Commonwealth soldiers, plus 234 non-Commonwealth soldiers
Burials by nation

3,082 British, 263 Australians, 50 Indians, 23 New Zealanders, 23 Canadians, 36 Poles, 184 Ottoman Turks, 53 others

Burials by war

World War I, World War II, United Nations Emergency Force (1956–1967)

Statistics source: Cemetery details. Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

The Gaza War Cemetery (Arabic: مقبرة الإنجليز في غزة) is a cemetery administered by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission on the Salah al-Din Road in Tuffah, Gaza City, Palestine.[1]

Before the Gaza war (2023–present), the cemetery's maintenance was managed by the Hamas government in Gaza in coordination with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.[2]

## Graves

[edit]

The majority of burials at the cemetery are of Allied soldiers who lost their lives in the First World War, principally in the First, Second and Third Battles of Gaza, all in 1917. Some 3,217 British and Commonwealth servicemen are buried in the cemetery; nearly 800 of the graves lack identification, and are inscribed "A Soldier of the Great War, known unto God".[3] 234 graves of non-Commonwealth soldiers are also present in the cemetery.[3] A further 210 Commonwealth soldiers were interred in the cemetery following their deaths in the Second World War. The post-war period saw 30 more burials.[3]

Aerial photo of the cemetery, taken 2019 Gardeners working at the cemetery, 1940s UN personnel at grave of Gerald S. Porter in the Gaza War Cemetery, with two Palestinian children, members of the Jaradah family

The majority of the graves (3082 of 3691) are British, but there are also the graves of 263 Australians, 50 Indians, 23 New Zealanders, 23 Canadians, 36 Poles, and 184 Ottoman-era Turkish graves, plus small numbers (53) of South African, Greek, Egyptian, German, French and Yugoslavian graves.[4] Among the graves is that of Stanley Boughey (1896–1917), who received the Victoria Cross for action against the Ottoman Army at El Burff, Palestine.[5]

The cemetery also includes memorials for United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) personnel who died during deployment to the Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula from 1956 to 1967. Twenty-two Canadian and eight Indian personnel are commemorated. The Canadian headstones are located in a separate section of the cemetery;[6] while the Indians are commemorated in the Indian section of the main cemetery, alongside Indian personnel of the First World War.[7]

## History

[edit]

Second World War Australian graves in the cemetery, photographed 1942

The cemetery was completed by 1920, and has been tended by three men from the same family ever since.[3] For 45 years, the cemetery was tended by Ibrahim Jeradeh, who was employed by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.[3] Jeradeh's father was the cemetery's initial head gardener, and he himself was succeeded by his son.[3] Jeradeh was awarded an MBE in "grateful recognition of outstanding contribution to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission".[3][4] The MBE's accompanying certificate was signed by the Duke of Kent.[3]

In 2004, 33 headstones were vandalised in the cemetery, allegedly in retaliation for the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal.[8]

The cemetery was struck by Israeli shells on two occasions in the 2000s: damage caused by an Israeli airstrike led to £90,000 in compensation being paid to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in 2006; and some 350 headstones needed repair following damage from Israeli shells in Operation Cast Lead in 2008–2009.[3]

It was reported to have been damaged again in the early stages of the Gaza war in 2023.[9] Subsequent satellite imagery, examined by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in October 2024, has revealed further significant damage, including to the boundary walls on all sides, the staff house and base site, the Canadian Section, multiple memorials (54th East Anglian Division, Hindu, Turkish, and Mohammadan sections), and approximately 10% of the headstones across the entire site.[10][11]

## Media appearances

[edit]

British journalist and writer Mark Urban, whose great-uncle is buried in the cemetery, visited it in 2009 for BBC 2's Newsnight, and wrote an article for The Observer detailing his experiences there.[12]

In 2018, a short Arabic-language documentary film about the cemetery, The Strange Neighbour, was released on YouTube by Gaza-based Ain Media,[13] followed by an English-language subtitled version in 2024.[14]

## Gallery

[edit]

* Graves of unidentified soldiers, "Known unto God"

* View of the cemetery from its south-west end

* Grave of Corporal T. Primrose, Highland Light Infantry

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Gaza War Cemetery at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission
2. ^ Abed, Abubaker (26 June 2024). "Gaza's British cemeteries are the only ones Israel isn't destroying". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 2024-12-04.
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harriet Sherwood (18 August 2013). "Tending the war graves of Gaza City". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
4. ^ a b Wright, Tony (13 October 2023). "This is where war always ends, said the gardener of Gaza's graveyard". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
5. ^ Boughey, Stanley Henry Parry, Commonwealth War Graves Commission
6. ^ "A quiet remembrance in Gaza". The Globe and Mail. The Globe and Mail. 11 November 2009. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
7. ^ "Gaza War Cemetery". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
8. ^ Lynfield, Ben (11 May 2004). "Palestinians vandalise UK war graves". The Scotsman. Archived from the original on 24 April 2005. Retrieved 15 September 2006.
9. ^ The Canadian Press (10 November 2023). "Damage to Gaza War Cemetery shows challenge of caring for monuments in conflict zones". The Canadian Press. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
10. ^ Francis, Peter (October 2024). "CWGC War Cemeteries in Gaza – status report as at October 2024" (PDF). Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 13 July 2025.
11. ^ Greene, Andrew (22 July 2024). "Satellite imagery reveals extent of destruction of Commonwealth war graves in Gaza". ABC News. Retrieved 13 July 2025.
12. ^ Urban, Mark (22 February 2009). "Battle still rages where my brave great-uncle fell in Gaza back in 1917". The Observer. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
13. ^ "The Strange Neighbour". Ain Media. Retrieved 24 March 2024 – via YouTube.
14. ^ "The English Cemetery of Gaza – The Strange Neighbor". Ain Media. Retrieved 18 March 2024 – via YouTube.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Sheehan, Sean (2000). Israel Handbook: With the Palestinian Authority Areas. Footprint Travel Guides. ISBN 978-1-900949-48-4.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gaza War Cemetery.

* Cemetery details. Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
* Australians buried at Gaza War Cemetery, Virtual War Memorial Australia
* Cimetière des Anglais de Gaza (Commonwealth War Cemetery) (in French), part of the Gaza, inventaire d’un patrimoine bombardé

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* Deir El Belah War Cemetery
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* Gaza City:
* Aybaki Mosque
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* Mahkamah Mosque†
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Churches|

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* Palestinian Legislative Council (destroyed in 2023)
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| Births|

* 1985
* Ahmed Moor
* 1997
* Rouzan al-Najjar

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