Behind the grinding of bulldozers and the rumble of hundreds of trucks, a quieter but no less devastating operation is unfolding across Gaza: the systematic removal of millions of tonnes of rubble—rubble that contains the remains of thousands of missing Palestinians, fragments of munitions, and the physical traces of a war that has killed at least 73,387 people. Human rights groups and monitors describe this as a calculated effort to erase evidence of genocide and redraw the map of the enclave, stripping Palestinians of the very ground they once called home. Main Developments According to the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor's report, Gaza Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment , approximately 68 million tonnes of rubble now litter the Gaza Strip, much of it from Israel's ongoing military campaign. At least 10 million tonnes have already been removed, crushed, or shifted from their original locations within areas under Israeli control—which cover about two-thirds of the enclave. Around 400 heavy excavation, crushing, and transport machines are actively demolishing remaining structures, while nearly 100 Israeli trucks leave Gaza daily, hauling debris to undisclosed sites inside Israel and the occupied West Bank. This industrial-scale operation is not merely clearing space; it is reshaping the urban landscape in a way that monitors say serves a distinct military and colonial purpose. Read also: Fulham Walks Off in Malaga Friendly Amid Penalty Dispute Budour Hassan, a researcher at Amnesty International, told Al Jazeera that the bulldozing is an integral part of attempts to destroy lands in Gaza City and the Strip generally. “The real fears are that these operations are taking place with the aim of obliterating and hiding evidence,” she said, adding that preventing access to evidence directly challenges the International Court of Justice, which is overseeing a genocide case against Israel brought by South Africa. Mohammed Salha, director of the NGO Network in the Gaza Strip, believes the debris contains missile fragments, ammunition, and personal belongings—crucial for future accountability. “The occupation is moving the rubble, fragmenting it, and moving it into the Green Line to obliterate the evidence and facts,” Salha said. He stressed that thousands of martyrs remain under the rubble, and moving it with their remains constitutes a deliberate destruction of the crime scene. Background The current operation is the latest chapter in a conflict that began in October 2023, when Israel launched a genocidal war on Gaza. The human toll has been staggering: at least 73,387 Palestinians, mostly children and women, have been killed, according to figures cited in the report. The ICJ genocide case, brought by South Africa and supported by numerous nations, is still pending. Israeli authorities have seized approximately 70 percent of the eastern Gaza Strip during the war, according to Samir al-Mana'ama, a lawyer with the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights. This has paralysed rescue efforts in those areas, leaving bodies buried and families without closure. The civil defence estimated in July 2026 that about 8,500 people remain missing, their fates unknown. The removal of rubble is not a new tactic in warfare, but its scale and systematic nature here are unprecedented. Euro-Med Monitor reported that the crushing and removal of debris destroys land boundaries, house foundations, and street networks, stripping Palestinians of physical markers of ownership. This sets the stage for efforts to re-establish Israeli settlements in Gaza, a goal long advocated by some Israeli political factions. Why It Matters This operation is not just about clearing debris; it is about erasing the physical evidence of crimes that could be used in accountability mechanisms. Amnesty International's Hassan warned that the occupation systematically works to obliterate evidence and destroy the features of the crime. Without this evidence, the families of the missing may never know the fate of their loved ones, and the pursuit of justice at the ICJ and other forums could be severely undermined. Retired Brigadier General Elias Hanna, a military and strategic expert, told Al Jazeera that geography has become part of the weapon itself. “When the Israeli enemy destroys and bulldozes, this bulldozing falls within the policy of collective punishment; that is, you create a new urban engineering and a new phase and a different shape for the social and security environment to punish those who resist and punish the civilian incubator at the same time,” he explained. This strategy aims to permanently alter the enclave's ecosystem, making destroyed areas unliveable or unbuildable, and preventing Palestinians from returning home. The removal of ruins also means that the bodies of missing people could be gone forever. Using heavy machinery without prior forensic surveys risks crushing or scattering remains, severely infringing on the rights of families to know the fate of