Israel Rejects UN Rights Chief's Gaza Investigation Demand as 'Absurd'

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk urged Israel on Wednesday, September 16, to allow international investigators access to Gaza to gather evidence of alleged violations and war crimes by the IDF. Türk stated that remains of entire families are being found in Gaza, and the discovery of numerous bodies under rubble in Gaza City raises concerns about war crimes. He expressed fears that the discovered remains are "just the tip of the iceberg," noting that much of Gaza has been destroyed by Israeli airstrikes and demolition operations.

The UN official also stated that Israel has refused to permit the import of heavy equipment for clearing rubble and continues to level land with bulldozers without regard for those buried beneath. According to the UN, over 630 bodies and human remains were recovered from under the rubble in Gaza between November 2025 and September 2026, with the total number of missing potentially exceeding 8,000.

Israel's UN envoy, Danny Danon, dismissed Türk's statements as "another absurd statement from an absurd person," accusing the High Commissioner of being obsessed with Israel and ignoring Hamas. Danon asserted that Hamas deliberately embeds its military infrastructure within civilian areas, conducts operations from residential buildings, and builds bases under homes, yet Hamas disappears from Türk's accusations while Israel is blamed.

Danon further criticized Türk for distorting reality and rushing to judgment against Israel before facts are clear, stating that Israel will not accept lectures from him. He accused Hamas of turning Gaza's civilian infrastructure into a battlefield.