UN Calls for Full International Access to Gaza to Preserve Evidence
The U.N. human rights office says access is needed to document victims, identify remains and investigate possible war crimes as bodies continue to be recovered from the rubble.
The U.N. human rights office has urged Israel to grant international investigators access to all areas of Gaza so they can preserve evidence, identify victims and examine possible war crimes. The appeal follows reports that more than 630 bodies and human remains have been recovered from collapsed buildings since November of last year, while more than 8,000 people may still be missing beneath the rubble. The figures and allegations remain subject to investigation, and the supplied report does not independently verify the casualty totals.
The United Nations has called on Israel to allow international investigators access to all parts of Gaza, as the recovery of bodies and human remains from beneath destroyed buildings continues.
The appeal, reported by Iran’s IRNA news agency citing Euronews, came as the scale of destruction and the number of people still missing beneath the rubble remain unclear. The U.N. human rights office said investigators must be able to reach the affected areas to collect and preserve evidence relating to victims and possible war crimes.
The office said the collection of material from destroyed sites is essential for documenting what happened. It also stressed the importance of identifying victims, preserving forensic information and biological samples, recording burial locations and informing families about the fate of their relatives.
### Concern over remains beneath destroyed buildings
Volker Türk, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, said in a statement that remains appearing to belong to entire families were being recovered from areas completely destroyed during Israeli attacks.
Türk warned that the remains found so far could represent only a small portion of those still undiscovered. According to the account cited by IRNA, large parts of Gaza have been flattened through bombardment and through demolition and clearance operations involving heavy machinery and explosives.
He also said that many areas where Israeli forces remain deployed are continuing to be demolished and levelled with bulldozers, without sufficient attention being paid to people who may still be dead beneath the rubble.
The Palestinian Civil Defense organization has said that more than 630 bodies and human remains have been recovered from collapsed buildings across Gaza since November of last year. The U.N. human rights office has also referred to an estimate that more than 8,000 people remain missing beneath the rubble.
Those figures have not, in the supplied report, been independently verified. They nevertheless illustrate the difficulty of determining the full scale of the deaths and destruction while access to many affected areas remains restricted.
### U.N. warns of possible war crimes
The recovery of large numbers of remains in Gaza City has renewed concerns about possible war crimes and other widespread crimes, according to Türk. The U.N. call for access is framed as a demand for evidence preservation and investigation rather than a final legal determination about individual incidents.
The human rights office said international investigators should be permitted to enter all areas of the Gaza Strip and assist with gathering evidence. Such access, it said, would help establish what occurred at destroyed sites and support efforts to identify victims through forensic and biological records.
The request also reflects the humanitarian consequences of prolonged destruction. When buildings are demolished or levelled before remains are recovered, evidence can be disturbed or lost, making it more difficult to determine how people died and where they were located. It can also delay the return of information to families searching for missing relatives.
### Background to the war
The war began after Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. According to official Israeli figures cited in the report, at least 1,195 people were killed in that attack. Israel subsequently launched bombing operations and a ground offensive that devastated extensive parts of Gaza.
The Gaza Health Ministry, which operates under Hamas administration, has reported that more than 73,000 Palestinians have been killed during the attacks. The ministry said more than 1,350 of those deaths occurred after a ceasefire agreement was signed in October of the previous year.
The figures from the Gaza Health Ministry are presented in the report as the ministry’s own tally. The supplied account does not provide an independent verification of the total or a separate breakdown of combatants and civilians.
The United Nations’ demand comes as European governments face diplomatic consequences arising from the war and as the extent of civilian losses continues to emerge. By calling for unrestricted international access, the U.N. is pressing for independent organizations to be allowed to examine destroyed locations, preserve potential evidence and help establish the identities of those who died.
For families whose relatives remain missing, the recovery and documentation of remains may be the only path toward confirmation of death and information about burial. For investigators, access to the sites is central to determining the circumstances surrounding the deaths and assessing whether violations of international law may have occurred.
Türk said every practical effort should be made to document and identify the victims, protect forensic evidence and biological samples, record burial sites and notify families. The continued recovery of remains, he warned, underscores both the human cost of the conflict and the unresolved questions surrounding the destruction of Gaza.