THE UN’s top human rights office today “raised the alarm” over mass graves uncovered after the departure of Israeli troops from Khan Younis, with the number of bodies exhumed now at 310.

Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said it was working to verify findings reported by Palestinian officials, who say bodies had been buried under piles of refuse and included women and elderly people, as well as bodies with their hands tied, indicating executions rather than deaths in combat.

The Organisation for Islamic Co-operation has called for a war crimes investigation into Israel over the apparent massacres.

But Israeli forces continued to gather on Gaza’s borders today, with satellite imagery showing hundreds of armoured vehicles converging in the Negev desert, thought to be a sign of the threatened invasion of Rafah — the town on the Egyptian border where 1.3 million Palestinians have taken refuge.

Satellite imagery also showed large numbers of tents being erected near Khan Younis, which were interpreted as evidence a refugee city is being prepared for those who will flee from Rafah if there is an invasion there — though the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) disclaimed knowledge of the tents.

The war’s fallout continued in the United States, Israel’s closest ally, where tech giant Google reportedly fired another 20 workers for protesting over Project Nimbus — a contract Google and Amazon have with Israel providing cloud computing and AI services.

That brings the number of Google staff sacked for participating in protests against the contract to over 50, according to campaign group No Tech for Apartheid.

Israeli officers have admitted widespread use of AI in selecting targets to bomb in Gaza.