UN rights chief says uncovered remains in Gaza raise concerns of war crimes

The recovery of hundreds of bodies from the rubble of buildings destroyed by Israeli strikes in Gaza during the war that began nearly three years ago has raised fresh concerns about possible war crimes, the UN human rights chief said on Tuesday.

Volker Turk said the remains of what appeared to be entire families were being unearthed from sites destroyed during Israeli attacks, adding that many victims were women and children.

"It is heartbreaking that the loved ones of those missing for so long are only now having their worst fears confirmed," he said in a statement.

He said the discoveries revived concerns raised in a 2024 UN report that found Israeli strikes on residential buildings and other civilian sites during the early weeks of the war may have violated international humanitarian law.

Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations in New York, Danny Danon, accused Turk of ignoring abuses by Hamas and of jumping to accuse Israel before facts had been established.

"Hamas embedded itself among civilians, operated from civilian areas and built its terror infrastructure beneath them. Yet somehow, in Mr. Türk’s narrative, Hamas disappears and Israel alone stands accused," he said in a statement.

The Israeli Prime Minister's office and Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Israel has repeatedly rejected allegations that it deliberately targets civilians and says it acted in accordance with international law while fighting Hamas militants in Gaza.

Israel's assault on Gaza — launched after Hamas' deadly raid into Israel in October 2023 — has generated around 61 million tons of wreckage and debris that could take seven years to clear, according to the United Nations.

A US-brokered ceasefire brought an end to full-scale fighting in October 2025, but has failed to halt regular Israeli strikes as both sides accuse each other of violating the truce.

Widespread destruction in Gaza

The Palestinian Civil Defence says more than 630 bodies and human remains have been recovered from beneath destroyed buildings across Gaza since November 2025.

Palestinian authorities estimate more than 8,000 people remain buried in the wreckage.

Turk said he feared the remains recovered so far could be "only the tip of the iceberg", noting that large parts of Gaza had been flattened by Israeli bombing or later demolition and clearance operations.

He also 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".

Ajith Sunghay, head of the UN rights office for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, said that Israeli restrictions on items like DNA kits and excavators were impeding recovery and identification efforts.

"The collective impact of Israel's conduct is making any systematic, large-scale search, recovery, and identification work nearly impossible," he told a Geneva press briefing. Sometimes, Palestinian teams were having to dig through rubble with their bare hands, he added.

Israeli authorities did not immediately respond to the UN allegations on supply restrictions. Israel's COGAT military agency, which controls access to Gaza, has previously justified long-held restrictions on items it said could be used for a "terrorist build-up".

Access for international investigators

The 2023 Hamas-led attacks killed 1,200 people in Israel while another 251 were taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

More than 73,000 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 ⁠that Hamas uses Gaza's civilians as human shields in densely populated areas, an accusation Hamas denies.

The UN rights chief called for international investigators to be granted access to all parts of Gaza to help preserve evidence, citing ongoing legal proceedings examining conduct during the war.

Francesca Albanese, the UN expert on the Palestinian territories, has said evidence should be gathered and human remains identified before full clearance starts.