Is Israel erasing evidence of alleged war crimes in Gaza? A visual investigation

Satellite imagery shows rubble in parts of Gaza have been cleared by Israel. Families told CBC News they fear the remains of their loved ones were still in the destroyed buildings. (Pléiades Neo © Airbus DS 2026/CBC, Mohamed El Saife/CBC)Social SharingSatellite imagery shows Israel compacting and removing rubble and debris from Gaza, with possible human remains and potential evidence of war crimes still trapped under it, a CBC News visual investigation of several sites has found.

Multiple destroyed areas in formerly populated areas of Gaza are being cleared, according to CBC's analysis, to make way for new military outposts for Israeli Defence Forces (IDF). 

Families in Gaza say this prevents them from retrieving the bodies of loved ones trapped under the ruins.  

"Where are the bodies? Where are the houses? Where's the rubble?" said Dalal Faraj, a Palestinian whose home in Gaza City was bombed, after CBC freelance videographer Mohamed El Saife showed her satellite footage of the now-cleared site.

UN officials have raised concerns in recent weeks that Israel is not properly handling rubble — and bodies that may still be under it — left by strikes in the almost three-year conflict sparked by the Hamas-led attacks on Oct. 7, 2023.

Is Israel erasing evidence of alleged war crimes in Gaza?

In 2024, the International Criminal Court ordered Israel to take measures to preserve evidence of alleged violations of the UN Genocide Convention in Gaza.

"It is Israel's obligation under international law to do everything possible to ensure these remains are found, identified and buried with dignity," said Ajith Sunghay, head of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

In a statement to CBC News, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said it clears structures and dismantles infrastructure in Gaza "based on tactical necessity" and to "reduce the level of risk posed" to its troops. It says this activity is "carried out in accordance with operational necessity, the provisions of international law, and IDF directives."

The IDF denies any accusations it isn't preserving evidence and recovering remains, saying it "treats every body found in the area with respect and seriousness."

Families that CBC News spoke to say no one contacted them about the retrieval of the bodies before or after the IDF removed the rubble from their homes.

"Impossible … This is our area?" Dalal Faraj told CBC News, looking at satellite imagery of her former neighbourhood. "Where did the houses go? Where are my husband and son?"

Dalal Faraj, who lives with her children in a displacement camp in Gaza City, looks at satellite imagery of her former neighbourhood. (Mohamed El Saife/CBC)In October 2023, as the war picked up pace, Faraj left her home in Shuja'iya, a neighbourhood in Gaza City. Her husband, Taha, 48, and son Nasr, 16, told her to take the five younger children and head to a safer location. Taha and Nasr told her they would catch up when they could.

On Oct. 8, 2023, a day after the war started, an Israeli strike hit her home. She hasn't heard from her husband or son since.

Nasr Faraj, left, and his father, Taha. (Submitted by Dalal Faraj)The satellite images that CBC's visual investigations team was able to gather show the buildings that once stood in Faraj's neighbourhood are all gone. 

As the area was cleared of rubble, a new Israeli military base was built on top of it.

This composite image shows satellite footage of the Faraj family neighbourhood and the location of their home in August 2023, left, two months before the start of the war, and in August 2026, with the Israeli military base at the centre. (Google Earth, Pléiades Neo © Airbus DS 2026/CBC)On March 10, 2026, a satellite captured a rubble-clearing operation in the Faraj family neighbourhood. CBC News identified 10 diggers and one truck in the area just north of their home.

A composite image of heavy land-clearing machinery the CBC News visual investigations team identified in a March 10, 2026, satellite image. The image shows a clearing operation near the Shuja’iya military base. The colour of the machinery suggests it’s not military, but probably civilian subcontractors. (Pléiades Neo © Airbus DS 2026/CBC)A month later, satellite imagery shows four diggers clearing terrain west of the Faraj family house.

In April 2026, excavators moved west of the military base, clearing rubble, as shown in this composite image. (Pléiades Neo © Airbus DS 2026/CBC)Faraj, who now lives with her children in a displacement camp in Gaza, said she's been waiting for years to be able to return to her home to retrieve Taha and Nasr's remains and rebuild. Seeing the pictures broke the last of her hope, she said.

"This area used to be my home. We used to live in a safe place. We would go to school, go out and have fun. Suddenly, this happened," Faraj said.

CBC asked the IDF how many bodies found under the rubble in Gaza since last year's ceasefire have been returned to Palestinians. It did not answer the question.

Shaher Mohamed Abu Ouda, 36, says 14 members of his family are still missing after the family home in southern Gaza was destroyed.

Abu Ouda lived in a settlement in the Rafah Governorate known as the "Swedish Village." Abu Ouda left the area in 2024, and Rafah was occupied by Israel in 2025.

Shaher Mohamed Abu Ouda, left, speaks with family members about their neighbourhood in Rafah Governorate, which has been destroyed and cleared. (Mohamed El Saife/CBC)"Warplanes started shooting at us, then came the F-16s, it shot at the house which we were in," Abu Ouda told CBC. "I left by a miracle."

Eight of the 14 members of the Abu Ouda family whose whereabouts are unknown after the IDF cleared rubble that may have contained their remains. (Submitted by Shaher Mohamed Abu Ouda)"Until today, I think about what happened that day," he said. "I thought I would go back and see them, but after all these years, I won't even find a blouse."

Comparison shots of the location of Abu Ouda's home show the rubble was there until at least June 2026. By August, the rubble was gone, with heavy machinery tracks visible.

The three satellite images in this composite show the location of the Abu Ouda family home in Swedish Village in October 2023, May 2026 and August 2026. (Google Earth/Pléiades Neo © Airbus DS 2026/CBC)Footage from May 2026 shows a clearing operation, with six vehicles removing the rubble where the Swedish Village once stood.

CBC News identified vehicles clearing rubble in the satellite image taken on May 7, 2026, at the centre of what was Swedish Village, preparing the location for the military base. (Pléiades Neo © Airbus DS 2026/CBC)The latest satellite imagery from August 2026 shows the neighbourhood completely flattened, with a military base on top of it.

This composite image shows how the Swedish Village area looked in June 2024, left, and August 2026. (Google Earth/Pléiades Neo © Airbus DS 2026/CBC)Abu Ouda is not surprised by the satellite images of his neighbourhood, because Rafah has been under Israeli control for years. But the images provided confirmation that he is unlikely to be able to retrieve his family's remains, he said. 

"Fourteen people lost their lives and we still know nothing about them," he said. "Even the rubble is not there."

Júlia Nueno Guitart, a researcher at Forensic Architecture, an independent research group tracking developments in Gaza, confirmed CBC's findings. She said her group has collected more than 2,000 similar incidents and managed to confirm 43 cases "where people have remained under the rubble."

"We have been able to do so either by visual evidence, graffiti on the walls of some of the buildings where people remain or by reports from [Gaza's] Civil Defence, where they inform us of the impossibility of retrieving bodies under the rubble," Nueno Guitart told CBC News.

A graphic shows instances Forensic Architecture has identified in which civilians are reportedly under rubble. (Forensic Architecture)According to Forensic Architecture's findings, the Israeli military is compacting and clearing rubble around newly established military bases even in areas where bodies are still under the rubble.

"What we are seeing after the ceasefire in Gaza is a new type of destruction, different to the one we have been documenting before the ceasefire," Nueno Guitart said. 

According to Janina Dill, a professor at Oxford University in the U.K. and an expert on international law, removing rubble and flattening the bombed area is only compatible with international law if the war dead are collected, identified and buried, and if evidence required to prosecute potential war crimes or suppress violations of international law is preserved.

"If [the rubble removal] is done without taking care of these two considerations, then it is absolutely prohibited and incompatible with Israel's obligations under the Geneva Convention," Dill said.