The recovery of bodies in Gaza under the rubble of buildings destroyed almost three years ago by Israeli strikes raises new concerns about possible war crimes, UN human rights chief Volker Turk said on Tuesday.
“The remains of what appears to be entire families are now being unearthed at locations that were pulverised by Israeli attacks,” Mr Turk said. “I worry the remains recovered so far may only be the tip of the iceberg.”
The Palestinian Civil Defence said more than 630 body parts had been recovered from beneath destroyed buildings since November 2025. It estimates more than 8,000 people are still missing under the rubble.
Civil Defence teams said this month they had recovered 96 bodies at a site in Zeitoun, south-east of Gaza city, which was struck in November 2023. They said 58 of those recovered were children and 23 women. Most of the remains were unearthed by hand.
“It is heart-breaking that the loved ones of those missing for so long are only now having their worst fears confirmed,” Mr Turk said.
He called for evidence of potential violations to be preserved and urged international investigators to be allowed access to Gaza. He also said Israel had obligations under international law to search for missing people and recover the dead in a dignified manner.
A 2024 UN Human Rights Office report raised concerns over Israeli strikes using heavy bombs of up to 2,000 pounds on residential buildings and other civilian sites in Gaza between October and December 2023. It said some of the strikes may have breached international humanitarian law.
“The discovery of extensive remains under the rubble in Gaza city resurfaces these concerns of war crimes and other atrocity crimes,” Mr Turk said.
He accused Israel of continuing to level some areas of Gaza where its forces remain deployed, saying bulldozers were operating “with no respect for the dead under the rubble”.
The Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023 killed 1,200 people in Israel and 251 people were taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.
More than 73,700 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s military campaign, according to Gaza health authorities.
Israel says it has gone to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties and accuses Hamas of using civilians as human shields in densely populated areas. Hamas denies the accusation.
Israel has blocked the entry of heavy machinery needed to remove rubble from the enclave, Mr Turk said.
Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, has said evidence should be gathered and human remains identified before full clearance begins.
