Palestinian resistance group Hamas has warned that Israel is attempting to conceal evidence of genocide committed against Palestinians in Gaza by removing, crushing, and transporting rubble under which the bodies of thousands of missing people remain trapped.
In an official statement, the group condemned "attempts by the occupation government and its army to conceal evidence of the brutal crimes committed against our people in Gaza through the removal, crushing and transportation of rubble."
It stressed that these actions are occurring despite the presence beneath the debris of "the bodies of thousands of missing people and material evidence of the crimes of genocide committed by the occupation over two years."
Hamas stated that tampering with sites containing human remains and potential legal evidence "constitutes a violation of international law and the International Court of Justice's order to preserve evidence," describing it as "an assault on the dignity of the martyrs and the right of their families to recover and bury the bodies of their loved ones."
Calls for international forensic teams
Hamas welcomed a warning issued by Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Palestinian territories, who cautioned that Israeli debris clearance risks erasing traces of "atrocity crimes."
Calling upon the UN and the International Criminal Court to safeguard these sites, Hamas urged the dispatch of international forensic investigators into Gaza to oversee body recoveries and document forensic material.
While stressing that clearing rubble and rebuilding remains an "urgent humanitarian and national necessity," Hamas maintained the operation must ensure the recovery of missing persons without permitting Israel to evade accountability.
On August 3, the Geneva-based Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor reported that commercial Israeli firms were involved in crushing and clearing debris across military-occupied zones covering roughly 66 percent of the enclave.
The monitor estimated that at least 10 million tonnes of rubble had been displaced or crushed, documenting approximately 100 trucks moving debris out of Gaza daily alongside 400 demolition and crushing machines.
Israel's two-year genocide has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians, injured over 174,000, and left over 9,000 missing beneath devastated infrastructure.
