The discovery of hundreds of bodies in the rubble of Gaza buildings destroyed in Israel's genocidal war on the Palestinian territory has raised fresh concerns about possible war crimes.
U.N. human rights chief Volker Türk said Tuesday that the remains of what appeared to be entire families were being unearthed from sites destroyed during Israeli attacks.
"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 U.N. 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.
"Every feasible effort must be taken to document and identify these victims, preserve forensic information and biological samples, record their burial locations and inform their families."
"The discovery of extensive remains under the rubble in Gaza City resurfaces (the) concerns of war crimes and other atrocity crimes," he warned.
The Israeli prime minister's office and Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Israel rejects that it deliberately targets civilians and claims it acted in accordance with international law in Gaza.
Israel's genocidal war on Gaza – launched after a Hamas incursion 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 U.S.-brokered cease-fire brought an end to full-scale fighting in October 2025, but Israel continues to strike the coastal enclave on a daily basis.
The Palestinian Civil Defense 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.
The United Nations also called for international investigators to be granted access to all of Gaza "to assist with evidence-gathering" as hundreds of bodies are pulled from the rubble.
"The remains of what appears to be entire families are now being unearthed at locations that were pulverized by Israeli attacks," Türk said.
He feared that 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.
Türk 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."
Israel's Gaza genocide killed more than 73,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities.
Israel claims it has gone to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties and alleges that Hamas uses Gaza's civilians as human shields, without offering proof.
The U.N. 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.
Israel has blocked the entry of heavy machinery needed to remove rubble, according to Türk's statement.
Francesca Albanese, the U.N. expert on the Palestinian territories, has said evidence should be gathered and human remains identified before full clearance starts.
This month, the Palestinian Civil Defence said 96 bodies and human remains had been recovered from a single site in the Zeitoun area of Gaza City, including 58 children and 23 women.
