GENEVA - 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.
"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."
