Volker Turk, the UN Human Rights Chief, mentioned in a report the discovery of bodies in Gaza that have recently been found under the rubble of buildings destroyed by Israel, raising new concerns about the possibility of war crimes. He stated: "The remains of what appear to be complete families are being uncovered in places that have been devastated by Israeli attacks."
Statistics and Current Situation
According to information provided by the Palestinian Civil Defense, since November 2025, over 630 body parts have been found under the rubble of destroyed buildings. This agency estimates that over 8,000 people are still missing under the rubble. This month, Palestinian Civil Defense teams reported that 96 bodies were found in a location in the Al-Zeitoun area, southeast of Gaza City, which was targeted in an attack in November 2023. Of these, 58 were children and 23 were women.
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International Concerns and Requests
Volker Turk expressed concern about the situation, stating: "The confirmation of families' concerns about missing persons after such a long time is truly heartbreaking." He called for the preservation of potential evidence of human rights violations and for allowing international inspectors access to Gaza. He also emphasized that Israel is obligated under international law to search for the missing and to recover bodies in a dignified manner.
The UN Human Rights Office's report in 2024 raised concerns about Israel's attacks using heavy bombs up to 2000 pounds on residential buildings and other civilian sites in Gaza between October and December 2023. The report indicates that some of these attacks may constitute violations of international humanitarian law.
Turk also referred to the ongoing destruction in some areas of Gaza, stating: "Bulldozers are operating without respect for the bodies under the rubble." He mentioned the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the deaths of 1,200 people in Israel and the abduction of 251 individuals. In contrast, according to Gaza health officials, over 73,700 Palestinians have been killed as a result of Israeli military attacks.
Israel claims that it is doing everything possible to prevent civilian casualties and accuses Hamas of using civilians as human shields in densely populated areas, while Hamas denies these accusations. Volker Turk also stated that Israel has blocked the entry of heavy machinery needed for rubble clearance.
Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, emphasized the importance of collecting evidence and identifying human remains before the complete clearance begins.
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