UN Rights Chief Urges Israel to Allow Investigators into Gaza

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, has called on Israel to permit international investigators to enter the Gaza Strip. The purpose of their entry would be to assist in gathering evidence regarding alleged violations and war crimes attributed to Israel.

Türk stated that areas in Gaza affected by Israeli strikes are revealing what appear to be entire families among the remains. He expressed concern that the discovered remains are "just the tip of the iceberg," noting that a significant portion of Gaza has been completely destroyed by Israeli bombardments and by demolition and debris removal operations using heavy equipment and explosives. The UN official added that Israel is currently refusing to allow heavy equipment into Gaza for debris removal.

According to the UN, over 630 bodies and human remains have been recovered from the rubble in Gaza between November 2025 and September 2026. The UN estimates that the total number of missing persons under the rubble, as searches continue, could exceed 8,000. The organization stresses the need to document and identify victims, inform families, preserve medico-legal data and biological samples, and record burial sites.

Israel's Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, responded to Türk's remarks, calling them "another delusional statement from a delusional person." Danon accused Türk of being more obsessed with Israel than with facts and of quickly blaming Israel while completely ignoring Hamas. He asserted that Hamas deliberately embeds itself within the civilian population, operates from civilian areas, and builds its terror infrastructure beneath them, yet Türk overlooks Hamas and the facts, leaving only Israel accused.

Danon concluded that Israel will not accept moralizing from someone who repeatedly distorts reality and rushes to judge Israel before facts are even established.