Hamas:

▪We warn against attempts by the occupation government and its army to erase evidence of the brutal crimes committed against our people in the Gaza Strip, through the removal, crushing, and transfer of rubble, amid the presence of the bodies of thousands of missing persons and material evidence of the crimes of genocide committed by the occupation over two years.

▪Tampering with these sites and what they contain of bodies and evidence constitutes a violation of international law and the International Court of Justice ruling calling for the preservation of evidence, and an assault on the dignity of the martyrs and the right of their families to recover the bodies of their sons and bury them.

▪We appreciate the warning by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, that the occupation’s removal, crushing, and transfer of rubble may lead to the erasure of traces of serious crimes committed in the Gaza Strip.

▪We call on the United Nations, the International Criminal Court, and the competent bodies to move urgently to protect these sites, and to bring in international investigation teams and forensic experts to oversee the recovery of the bodies and the documentation and preservation of evidence.

▪We affirm that the rapid removal of rubble and the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip is an urgent humanitarian and national necessity and an inherent right of our people, and that this must be done in a way that ensures the recovery of the bodies of the missing and the preservation of evidence, and prevents the occupation from exploiting these operations to erase the traces of its crimes and evade accountability.