Palestinians attend the mass funeral of 112 victims in Gaza City on Aug. 4, 2026. Credit: Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua via Getty Images
Israel is clearing truckloads of rubble out of Gaza in a “deliberate” move to erase evidence of genocide and war crimes, a human rights group says.
According to an Aug. 3 press release from Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, in recent weeks the Geneva-based nonprofit operating in Gaza tracked nearly 100 trucks carting debris away daily to undisclosed locations. The group estimated that Israel has removed, crushed, or moved more than 11 million U.S. tons of rubble from original sites within Gaza that Israel now occupies, amounting to about 66% of the Strip. Palestinians living near the Yellow Line, the demarcation indicating Israel’s growing military zone in Gaza, told Prism that they, too, have witnessed trucks moving the ruins of destroyed neighborhoods.
According to Euro-Med, the rubble contains physical evidence that is vital for holding Israel accountable before international bodies, including the International Court of Justice—which is currently assessing allegations of genocide—and the International Criminal Court (ICC), which relies on forensic documentation to investigate war crimes.
“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,” the group said in its press release. “Israel is acting unilaterally within closed areas under its military control by demolishing remaining buildings and then crushing, mixing, and transporting the rubble before forensic teams, evidence experts, and unexploded ordnance specialists can examine, document, and preserve the sites, along with the evidence and human remains.”
As an example, Euro-Med Chief Operating Officer Anas Aljerjawi told Prism that it would be difficult to investigate how someone was killed if their remains were buried under rubble that was removed by Israel.
“It becomes impossible to determine the type of weapon used, the shooting distance, or the exact cause of death, because neither the remains nor the original crime scene exists anymore,” Aljerjawi said. “This constitutes irreparable, irreversible judicial harm that cannot be remedied by aerial imagery or subsequent witness testimonies, as crucial physical evidence from the crime scene has been permanently lost.”
Euro-Med said in its press release that Israel’s actions violate the Fourth Geneva Convention and the Rome Statute regarding the protection of civilian infrastructure and the preservation of crime scenes in occupied territory.
Euro-Med’s observations come as ICC arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant remain active for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. In June, independent United Nations experts and bodies such as the U.N. Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices formally classified Israel’s conduct and policies in Gaza as meeting the legal criteria for genocide, having also previously concluded that Israeli security forces deliberately targeted and killed Palestinian civilians, medical personnel, and aid workers.
Israel’s constant excavations beyond the Yellow Line are starkly visible to Palestinians living along its perimeter.
“On a daily basis, Israeli military vehicles advance and make incursions backed by artillery, bombardment, and attack helicopters,” said Mohammad Al Baba, who has lived in a tent at Al Bureij camp since his house was destroyed within the first days of the genocide. “They have detonated every single house, tree, and plant east of the Yellow Line, completely wiping out the area.”
Al Baba added that he also observed Israelis bulldozing rubble and carting it away in trucks.
“Every day in the Gaza Strip, we witness the detonation of entire residential blocks east of the Yellow Line, with all traces of them completely erased,” he said.
Beyond the legal ramifications also lies a devastating reality: Gaza’s rubble is a graveyard, an archive of family memories, and the final resting place of thousands of missing Palestinians.
Gaza’s Health Ministry estimates that more than 8,000 Palestinians are still missing. Removing rubble that could contain some of their remains infringes on families’ right to know the fate of their missing relatives and to recover and bury their remains with dignity, Euro-Med said.
“The continuous bulldozing and carting off of rubble without sorting—and without any safeguards to preserve human remains—completely destroys the path to justice” Aljerjawi said. “Crushing and mixing the debris severs evidence from its spatial context and destroys the spatial relationship between elements of the crime scene.”
He added, “Virtually every destroyed building is a crime scene, containing the uncounted remains of victims beneath it.”
These bodies remain trapped beneath the rubble because Israeli forces continue to restrict heavy equipment and fuel from entering Gaza, according to the U.N., and prevent Palestinian Civil Defense crews from accessing these zones.
“We have received tens of statements from Civil Defense teams in the Gaza Strip who were exposed to live fire and shelling when they attempted to reach closed Israeli military zones east of the Yellow Line,” Aljerjawi explained, which other civilians around the boundary have also reported.
Another major barrier to retrieving these bodies is the critical shortage of fuel and heavy machinery. Whenever the Palestinian Civil Defense manages to secure the resources required, rescue teams immediately head to target sites to dig for those trapped beneath the debris within the remaining 34% of the Strip that is not under direct Israeli control.
One of the Civil Defense crews’ largest and most significant operations took place earlier this summer when they recovered the remains of 112 Palestinians belonging to the Abu Sharia and al-Hassayneh families in the Al-Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City. The victims, including 44 children, 37 women, 23 elders, and seven people with disabilities, were killed in Israeli airstrikes that obliterated an entire residential block in November 2023.
Following a grueling two-week excavation effort, thousands gathered on Aug. 4 to hold what family members described as the largest mass funeral procession in modern Palestinian history, laying all 112 martyrs to rest together.
Editorial Team:
Sahar Fatima, Lead Editor
Tina Vasquez, Top Editor
Rashmee Kumar, Copy Editor
