UN expert warns Israeli rubble clearing could erase evidence

GENEVA (MNTV) — A United Nations special rapporteur has warned that Israel’s large-scale removal, crushing and relocation of rubble in Gaza could destroy evidence of alleged atrocity crimes and prevent the recovery of thousands of human remains.

Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, raised alarm over debris-clearing operations in areas under Israeli military control. 

She said the rubble contains physical evidence potentially relevant to investigations into alleged international crimes, including genocide.

Albanese said information received from multiple sources indicated that rubble was being deliberately and extensively removed, crushed and transported. 

She warned that treating the remains of Gaza’s devastated buildings simply as construction waste could eliminate material that investigators may need to establish what happened during Israel’s genocide.

“Gaza’s rubble” contains both human remains and evidence relevant to investigations, Albanese said, according to the report, emphasizing that its significance extends far beyond reconstruction material.

Palestinian authorities estimate that more than 10,000 people remain buried beneath the debris, making the removal operation a potentially enormous obstacle to families seeking to locate and identify relatives killed during the war. 

Recent recovery operations have demonstrated that bodies can still be retrieved from destroyed buildings.

Albanese said the rubble should be regarded as part of a crime scene and graveyard, as well as a physical record of the destruction inflicted on Gaza during two years of Israeli bombardment and ground operations.

She called for human remains to be recovered and identified with dignity before rubble is crushed or transported, while sites and materials potentially relevant to criminal investigations should be systematically documented and preserved. 

She also urged independent international investigators to oversee the collection and preservation of evidence.

The warning carries particular significance because much of Gaza has been devastated by Israel’s ethnic cleansing measures. 

Gaza health authorities say more than 73,000 Palestinians have been killed during the genocide, while Palestinian officials estimate that thousands of people remain beneath destroyed buildings.

Albanese also warned governments and private companies participating in rubble-removal operations that destroying evidence of international crimes could expose them to international criminal responsibility. 

She argued that Gaza’s reconstruction must not come at the cost of eliminating evidence needed to establish accountability.

She further insisted that any comprehensive rubble-removal operation should be based on a plan designed by Palestinians and supported by parties trusted by the Palestinian population, rather than imposed through Israeli control.

The UN expert’s intervention adds to growing international scrutiny of how the physical remnants of Gaza’s destruction are handled. For Palestinians, the debris is not merely an obstacle to rebuilding homes and infrastructure but also contains the remains of people whose families are still waiting for answers.

Israel has faced longstanding allegations from Albanese and other international experts over its conduct in Gaza, including allegations of war crimes and genocide. 

Israel has rejected such accusations and has previously sharply criticized Albanese’s statements. Israel did not immediately respond to the latest warning cited in the report.

Albanese said reconstruction should therefore proceed alongside, rather than at the expense of, the preservation of evidence and recovery of victims. 

The warning places the burden on Israel, governments and companies involved in clearing Gaza to ensure that the physical destruction left behind by the war does not also become a means of obscuring how that destruction occurred.