A Zionist bulldozer demolishing a house in Rafah, Gaza, a scene consistent with broader efforts to cover up their war crimes. Photo: +972 Magazine.
The ‘Israeli’ government is making it impossible for Palestinians to locate the remains of thousands of their missing loved ones still buried under the rubble of destroyed homes
The ‘Israeli’ military is conducting an organized operation to clear the rubble from neighborhoods it destroyed in the Gaza Strip, erasing crucial evidence of genocide and the remains of victims still unaccounted for under the rubble, the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor reported on 3 August.
According to the Palestinian rights group, the ‘Israeli’ military and civilian contractors have crushed and removed 10 million tons of rubble from their original sites within the areas of Gaza under ‘Israeli’ occupation and control.
Tel Aviv is using some 400 pieces of heavy machinery to excavate, demolish, crush, and transport rubble created by ‘Israel’s’ bombing and demolition of Palestinian homes, apartment blocks, hospitals, schools, and mosques across the strip.
Nearly 100 ‘Israeli’ trucks are leaving Gaza daily, carrying rubble to undisclosed sites within ‘Israel’ and further south of the occupied West Bank.
Doing so is “destroying crucial evidence of genocide and the remains of victims still unaccounted for under the rubble,” Euro-Med wrote.
‘Israel’s’ genocide in Gaza has killed at least 73,000 Palestinians, the majority women and children. An estimated 8,500 Palestinians remain missing and are feared buried under the rubble of their destroyed homes.
“The debris scattered throughout the Gaza Strip includes possible locations of unlawful killings and bombings that targeted entire families, as well as sites believed to contain mass graves or bodies buried within destroyed homes, hospitals, shelters, and civilian facilities,” Euro-Med stated.
The swift, systematic, and unmonitored removal of rubble prevents Palestinian families from learning the fate of their missing relatives and from recovering and burying their remains with dignity.
The debris in Gaza also includes essential building materials like steel, stone, and concrete that can be recycled and reused by Palestinians to one day rebuild their homes.
It may also contain property documents, official records, and personal belongings that are part of individuals’ and families’ rights and memories.
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Removing this debris erases land boundaries, house foundations, street networks, and neighborhood features, making it more difficult for Palestinians to return and rebuild their homes and neighborhoods.
The deliberate removal of evidence also hampers ongoing investigations by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of ‘Israeli’ crimes in Palestine.
Article 70(1)(c) of the Rome Statute considers “destroying, tampering with or interfering with the collection of evidence” as criminal acts.
“Transforming forcibly depopulated Palestinian towns and neighborhoods into leveled, open spaces under ‘Israeli’ control is a concrete act that deepens the displacement and ethnic cleansing,” Euro-Med wrote.
The removal of rubble is in preparation for ‘Israel’ to build settlements in Gaza for ‘Israeli’ Jews.
“This process is inseparable from ‘Israeli’ settler colonialism, which involves uprooting Palestinians, erasing signs of their presence, and redefining the land without them.”
‘Israel’s’ ban on journalists entering Gaza since the start of the genocide has also helped hide the state’s crimes against Palestinians.
‘Israel’ has also tried to erase evidence of the genocide by pressuring social media and tech firms to delete online video footage from Gaza.
In 2025, YouTube quietly erased more than 700 videos documenting ‘Israeli’ war crimes in the strip by deleting the accounts of three prominent Palestinian human rights groups.
