Palestine cemetery houses graves of Kurdish and Iraqi soldiers

JENIN, Palestine – Haji Mukhlis often visits the Iraqi military cemetery in the Palestinian city of Jenin, where he prays for the souls of the Kurdish and Iraqi soldiers who died fighting alongside the Palestinians against Zionist forces in 1948.

"It was a crucial fight against the Jewish force that entered the city," he said.

The Iraqi army came from Tol Karam and took control of the city overnight.

Some 278 Iraqi soldiers were killed in Palestine; 67 died in Jenin alone. Out of those 56 were Iraqis and 11 Kurds, all buried at the cemetery where Mukhlis comes to pray for the dead.