UN urges Israel to grant international investigators full access to Gaza
The UN human rights office says access is needed to document events, identify victims and preserve forensic evidence as more bodies are recovered from the rubble.
The UN is urging Israel to grant international investigators access to all areas of Gaza to document events, preserve forensic evidence and help identify victims. The appeal comes as Palestinian Civil Defence reports recovering more than 630 bodies and human remains from collapsed buildings since November, while the UN cites an estimate of more than 8,000 people still missing beneath the rubble. UN officials say the findings raise concerns about possible war crimes, but the supplied material does not independently verify the casualty figures or include Israel’s response.
The United Nations has called on Israel to allow international investigators access to all areas of Gaza as rescuers continue recovering human remains from collapsed buildings.
The UN Human Rights Office said access to destroyed sites was essential for documenting events, preserving evidence and helping identify victims. It also called for the preservation of medical and forensic information, the collection of biological samples, the recording of burial locations and notification of families.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said remains believed to belong to entire families were being recovered from areas that had been completely destroyed in Israeli attacks. He warned that the remains found so far could represent only a small portion of those still buried beneath the rubble.
Türk also said that areas of Gaza where Israeli forces are deployed continued to be demolished and levelled with bulldozers, without sufficient attention to people who may remain trapped beneath the debris. The UN human rights office said the discovery of extensive remains raised renewed concerns about possible war crimes and other serious violations.
According to the Palestinian Civil Defence service, more than 630 bodies and human remains have been recovered from collapsed buildings across Gaza since November of last year. The UN human rights office cited an estimate that more than 8,000 people remain missing beneath the rubble.
The figures and allegations have been provided by Palestinian authorities and UN officials and have not been independently verified in the supplied material. Israel’s position on the UN request was not included.
The conflict began after Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which Israeli official figures say killed at least 1,195 people. Gaza’s Health Ministry, administered by Hamas, says more than 73,000 Palestinians have been killed in the ensuing Israeli military campaign, including more than 1,350 after a ceasefire agreement was signed in October of last year. The supplied report does not provide independent verification of those figures.