Israeli forces and civilian contractors are clearing Gaza's rubble at a scale rights investigators say threatens to permanently erase evidence of war crimes, according to a new report from the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor.

The Geneva-based watchdog says it has tracked nearly 100 trucks a day hauling debris out of the roughly two-thirds of Gaza currently under Israeli military control, moving it to undisclosed sites in Israel and the occupied West Bank. Euro-Med estimates at least 10 million tonnes of rubble have already been cleared, using roughly 400 pieces of heavy machinery operated by civilian contractors to demolish structures and bulldoze land.

Remains among the debris

The group says some of the material being trucked away comes from cemeteries and sites where human remains are known to be buried, and that the removal is happening without any official record of the quantities removed or independent oversight. Investigators and Palestinian officials fear the operation is destroying forensic evidence — including signs of summary executions and civilian casualties — that could otherwise support war crimes cases at the International Criminal Court, which indicted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister in 2024, according to Al Jazeera.

THE SYSTEMATIC REMOVAL OF RUBBLE AT THIS PACE CONCEALS THE EVIDENCE OF APPALLING CRIMES

"The systematic removal of rubble at this pace conceals the evidence of appalling crimes Israel committed in Gaza, especially those related to genocide, such as summary executions and killing unarmed civilians," Euro-Med said in its report, a statement also cited in Democracy Now!'s Friday headlines roundup.

Israel has broadly and repeatedly rejected accusations that its Gaza campaign amounts to genocide, arguing its military operations have targeted Hamas fighters and infrastructure rather than civilians. Israeli officials did not issue a specific public response to the rubble-clearance allegations detailed in the Euro-Med report; past statements from Israeli authorities have described post-war debris removal as a necessary step toward reconstruction and restoring civilian access to the territory.

Rights groups counter that the pace and secrecy of the operation — debris hauled to undisclosed locations with no independent monitors present — undercuts any claim that it is purely a humanitarian cleanup. Human remains recovery in a war zone typically follows forensic protocols involving international observers, protocols investigators say are being bypassed here.

What's next

The allegations add pressure on the ICC's ongoing investigation into the Gaza war, which has already produced arrest warrants against senior Israeli officials. Rights groups are calling for an immediate halt to rubble removal in contested areas until independent monitors can document the sites, though there is no indication Israel plans to pause the operation. Ceasefire terms and reconstruction planning for Gaza remain under negotiation, with the rubble dispute now emerging as a flashpoint in that broader diplomatic process.