UN Calls for International Investigators to Access All Areas of Gaza

DID Press: United Nations has called for international investigators to be granted access to all parts of the Gaza Strip to help preserve and document evidence of possible violations of international law, following the recovery of more than 630 bodies and human remains from beneath destroyed buildings, according to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk.

Türk said on September 15 that extensive human remains, many believed to be those of women and children, were continuing to be recovered from sites heavily damaged by Israeli military operations.

He said the discovery of what appeared to be the remains of entire families had raised serious concerns about compliance with international law and the possibility that serious violations, including war crimes, may have occurred.

Türk also warned that in parts of Gaza where Israeli forces remain deployed, demolition and rubble-clearing operations involving heavy machinery and bulldozers were continuing. He said human remains could still be buried beneath the debris and stressed the need to preserve evidence at destroyed sites.

According to the Palestinian Civil Defence, more than 630 bodies and human remains were recovered from beneath destroyed buildings across Gaza between November 2025 and September 2026. The agency estimates that more than 8,000 people remain missing and may still be buried under the rubble, according to the UN.

The UN human rights chief called for efforts to document and identify victims, preserve forensic information and biological samples, record burial locations and notify families of the fate of their relatives. He also called for international investigators to be allowed into all parts of Gaza to assist with evidence gathering.

The UN has previously warned that rubble-removal operations must be carried out in a way that does not destroy evidence or prevent the recovery and identification of human remains. In September, UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese also called for systematic documentation and preservation of potentially relevant evidence under independent oversight.

A separate UNDP-EU project launched in July 2026 is supporting debris removal and the recovery and identification of human remains in Gaza, including through forensic capacity-building.