Israeli clearance of Gaza rubble could destroy 'evidence', says UN expert

A United Nations expert said on Monday that Israeli clearance of rubble in Gaza could destroy valuable evidence of "atrocity crimes" and prevent the recovery of human remains. Francesca Albanese, the UN expert on the Palestinian territories, said evidence should be gathered and human remains identified before full clearance started. She issued a statement headlined: "UN expert warns Israeli rubble-clearing could erase traces of atrocity crimes", and said Palestinians should be behind any plans to remove waste. "In devastated Gaza, rubble is not just construction waste. It is part of a crime scene, a graveyard, and the material record of what happened during a brutal and senseless bombing campaign that lasted two years,” she said. She said that multiple sources had confirmed Israeli companies were involved in the clearance, without naming those sources.