A United Nations official cautioned on Monday that the ongoing Israeli cleanup of debris in Gaza could potentially erase crucial evidence of “atrocity crimes” and hinder the process of identifying human remains. The extensive wreckage and rubble resulting from Israel’s military operation in Gaza, launched in response to a Hamas incursion into Israel in October 2023, amount to approximately 61 million tons and may require up to seven years to clear, as per UN estimates.
Francesca Albanese, the designated UN expert on the Palestinian territories, released a statement titled “UN expert warns Israeli rubble-clearing could erase traces of atrocity crimes,” emphasizing the necessity for Palestinians to be actively involved in any debris removal initiatives. Concerns were raised after Albanese’s office received reports in August regarding Israel’s systematic removal, crushing, and transportation of rubble. Albanese stressed the importance of preserving evidence and identifying human remains before initiating full-scale clearance operations.
Describing the rubble in devastated Gaza as more than mere construction debris, Albanese highlighted its significance as part of a crime scene, a burial ground, and a tangible record of the destructive bombing campaign endured over two years. Despite affirming the involvement of Israeli companies in the clearance activities, Albanese refrained from disclosing specific sources, and her office refrained from providing immediate responses to inquiries from Reuters about the origin of the information.
Requests for comments from Israel’s Foreign Ministry, Prime Minister’s office, and military went unanswered at the time. Past disagreements with Albanese have been noted, with Germany, France, and Italy previously criticizing her allegedly negative remarks about Israel earlier this year, although she refuted the cited statements. In a separate development, the U.S. imposed sanctions on Albanese last year, accusing her of instigating actions against U.S. and Israeli officials, companies, and executives through the International Criminal Court.
The armed conflict in 2023 instigated by Hamas resulted in 1,200 casualties in Israel, with an additional 251 people being held hostage, according to Israeli reports. Conversely, Gaza health authorities reported over 73,000 Palestinian fatalities due to Israel’s military operations. Israel maintains that it has taken extensive measures to minimize civilian casualties, attributing the high death toll among Palestinians to Hamas using civilians as shields in densely populated areas—a claim refuted by Hamas.
UN experts, appointed by the Geneva-based Human Rights Council, are tasked with monitoring and documenting specific human rights crises independently of the Council itself. The statement from Hamas expressed gratitude for Albanese’s warning and emphasized the critical need for rubble removal procedures that ensure the recovery of missing persons’ remains and the preservation of evidence. Palestinian authorities estimate that over 8,000 individuals are still buried under the debris, with a recent recovery effort in Gaza City uncovering the remains of 112 individuals from a single family.