Graves badly broken after Israel bombs Hamas provide tunnel subsequent to British struggle cemetery 

Hamas used the last resting place of hundreds of British soldiers in Gaza to store weaponry for its war with Israel, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said in August it had recovered a missile launcher from a graveyard in Daraj Tuffah in Gaza City.

But the IDF did not say it was the Commonwealth Gaza War Cemetery, known locally as the British War Cemetery.

The weapons were found after the IDF destroyed a Hamas supply tunnel near the graveyard.

Bombing the tunnel damaged the graveyard, with satellite footage showing debris blasted into the cemetery at two points.

The MoS has learned that a second Commonwealth graveyard at Deir El Belah in Gaza has also been damaged. 

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission said it was ‘deeply concerned’, and added that both cemeteries appeared to have ‘sustained significant damage’ to headstones, memorials, boundary walls, staff facilities and storage areas.

The commission said some 10 per cent of headstones at Deir El Belah had been damaged.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission said it was ‘deeply concerned’ by reports of damage at the British War Cemetery in Gaza (pictured) caused by IDF strikes on Hamas targets

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said in August it had recovered a missile launcher (pictured) from a graveyard in Daraj Tuffah in Gaza City

In the midst of a war that has razed much of Gaza, the graveyards had remained untouched, so news of the damage will hit the Armed Forces hard in the run-up to Remembrance Sunday.

The Gaza War Cemetery contains 3,217 burials from the First World War and 210 from the Second World War. 

Deir El Belah holds 724 from the First World War. 

An ex-IDF paratrooper said: ‘Hamas have militarised every inch of Gaza, from hospitals to cemeteries. 

‘It is a win-win for them – if Israel shies away from military activity in these areas, Hamas survives. 

‘If Israel does take action, they are condemned. Using war graves to cover their tunnels is a perfect example.’

Blaming Hamas for the damage, Major Wayne Owers, 54, a former Army bomb disposal officer, said: ‘I am sickened by this.’

The IDF said damage to cemeteries was ‘tragic’, adding: ‘The IDF in no way targets cemeteries. 

‘Hamas deliberately embeds itself within and adjacent to civilian sites, including cemeteries. As a result, damage might occur.’