GENEVA (7 September 2026) – Large-scale removal of
rubble in areas of Gaza under Israeli military control
cannot become a way to erase traces of atrocity crimes and
another means to entrench Israel’s illegal occupation, a
UN expert said today.
“The ongoing removal, crushing
and relocation of rubble in Gaza must not destroy evidence
of international crimes or prevent the recovery and
identification of human remains in the besieged enclave,”
said Francesca Albanese, Special Rapporteur on the situation
of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since
1967.
“The implications are profound. Gaza’s
rubble contains human remains and physical evidence relevant
to the investigation of alleged international crimes,
including genocide,” Albanese said.
Palestinian
authorities estimate that more than 10,000 people remain
buried under the debris.
With nearly 70 percent of
Gaza subject to access restrictions and varying degrees of
Israeli military control, Albanese warned that the process
cannot be separated from the broader illegality of
Israel’s continued presence in the occupied Palestinian
territory, as determined by the International Court of
Justice (ICJ) in its July 2024 Advisory
Opinion.
In January 2024, the ICJ ordered
Israel to take effective measures to prevent the destruction
of and ensure the preservation of evidence relating to
allegations of breaches of the Genocide
Convention.
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“In devastated Gaza, rubble is not just
construction waste. It is part of a crime scene, a
graveyard, and the material record of what happened during a
brutal and senseless bombing campaign that lasted two
years,” the Special Rapporteur said.
She noted that
the possibility of recovering human remains in the Gaza
rubble is far from theoretical. On 4 August 2026,
Palestinians buried 112 members of one extended family,
recovered in a 17-day operation from beneath buildings in
Gaza City that were destroyed in November 2023. The remains
of 41 others killed in the same strike were never
located.
“It is vital that before decisions are made
on displacement or crushing by the occupying army or its
allies, the recovery and dignified identification of human
remains, systematic documentation of sites and materials,
preservation of potentially relevant evidence, and an
unbroken chain of custody under independent oversight must
take place,” Albanese said. She called for international
criminal investigators to oversee this vital evidence
gathering.
“State actors and companies involved in
its removal should take note that by destroying evidence of
international crimes, they could incur international
criminal responsibility in connection to those crimes,”
Albanese warned.
The Special Rapporteur said the
concern was particularly serious given the scale and nature
of the destruction in Gaza since October 2023. According to
the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing,
between October 2023 and October 2025, at least 92 per cent
of Gaza’s housing units alongside extensive civilian
infrastructure, had
been destroyed or damaged. That report described the
scale of destruction and displacement as “unprecedented”
in modern warfare.
Albanese warned that through the
use of heavy machinery – including equipment manufactured
by Caterpillar, HD Hyundai, Doosan and Volvo – demolition
and levelling have continued in areas under Israeli control,
even after the so-called ceasefire of October
2025.
The expert received credible information from
multiple sources in August 2026, exposing an operation
involving deliberate and widespread removal, crushing and
transport of rubble, with Israeli sources confirming
discussions with Israeli companies over large-scale
demolition, rubble removal and recycling.
“Any
removal must happen in the context of a plan designed by
Palestinians and supported by actors who have the trust of
Palestinians,” Albanese said. “Destroying evidence of
atrocity crimes is illegal. It is unacceptable that the
reconstruction of Gaza is conditioned upon the erasure of
its past and the evidence required to secure justice for its
victims.”
Note:
Francesca
Albanese is the
Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the
Palestinian territory occupied since
1967
