Israeli Rubble-Removal Campaign in Gaza: UN and Hamas Warn It Erases Genocide Evidence

GAZA: A United Nations expert and Hamas have warned that Israel’s large-scale removal, crushing, and transfer of rubble in Gaza risks erasing evidence of atrocities and genocide.
Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories since 1967, said the rubble in Gaza contains human remains and physical evidence critical to investigating international crimes, including genocide. She stressed that destroying such evidence is unlawful, and that states and companies involved could bear international criminal liability.
The International Court of Justice had ordered Israel in January 2024 to preserve evidence, but Israel has continued demolition and rubble-removal operations even after the so-called October 2025 ceasefire, using heavy machinery from Caterpillar, HD Hyundai, Doosan, and Volvo.
According to Palestinian officials, more than 10,000 people remain buried under the rubble. On August 4, 2026, the bodies of 112 members of a single family were recovered during a 17-day operation, while the remains of 41 others killed in the same attack have never been found.
Hamas has accused Israel of removing rubble to conceal evidence of genocide in Gaza, and has called for international investigators and forensic experts to be allowed in to recover bodies and preserve evidence. Hamas said tampering with such sites violates international law and the ICJ’s order.
According to the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, approximately 10 million tons of rubble have been removed or crushed so far, with 100 trucks carrying debris out of Gaza daily. Albanese insisted that any rubble-removal process must be carried out under a Palestinian-led plan with credible oversight, and that reconstruction cannot be made conditional on destroying evidence needed for justice. She noted that 70% of Gaza remains under Israeli-imposed restrictions, and that since October 2023, 92% of residential units have been destroyed or damaged.