[News] 'Israel' loots Gaza’s ruins to bury its war crimes

[Anti-Imperialist News]

english.almayadeen.net
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/-israel--loots-gaza-s-ruins-to-bury-its-war-crimes>
'Israel' loots Gaza’s ruins to bury its war crimes
Ahmad Zaqout
August 4, 2025
------------------------------

As Palestinians struggle to rebuild from ruins, 'Israel' turns their
destruction into profit, militarizing debris and erasing all trace of its
war crimes.

   - [image: 'Israel' loots Gaza’s ruins to cash in and bury its war crimes]
   <https://alpha-en-media.almayadeen.net/media/image/2025/8/4/ce4fac66-7579-4c17-aa81-fe46b0ff5cf7.jpg?v=3&width=1000>
   Palestinians walk amid the rubble of homes destroyed by the Israeli
   airstrikes on Jabaliya, northern Gaza Strip, on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (
   *AP*)

"Israel’s" war on Gaza has not only been relentless bombardment and mass
killings, but it has also evolved into a campaign of systematic desecration
and plunder. Beneath the surface of visible destruction lies a more
insidious tactic: the large-scale removal of rubble from obliterated
Palestinian homes and neighborhoods, transported to the Palestinian
territories occupied in 1948 under the pretext of “debris removal.”

But these actions are far from mere logistical procedures. They serve
layered military, economic, and political objectives, from concealing
evidence of war crimes to deliberately obstructing reconstruction efforts,
and even erasing the physical memory of entire neighborhoods
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/sky-news-reporter--gaza-is-grey-rubble--aerial-shots-risk-ai>
.

In this context, Gaza’s rubble becomes more than just broken concrete; it
is transformed into a weaponized artifact, stripped from its origin and
exploited as a spoils-of-war commodity. Through this calculated removal,
"Israel" not only deepens Palestinian suffering but attempts to rewrite the
landscape of loss itself.

Though the Israeli entity has provided no visual documentation of this
operation, mounting complaints and growing evidence tell a different story.
Eyewitness testimonies, coupled with satellite imagery, point to the sudden
and unexplained disappearance of vast quantities of rubble from northern
Gaza, Khan Younis, and Rafah. These signs strongly suggest a coordinated
and concealed effort to strip the physical traces of destruction from
Palestinian soil, an attempt not just to clear debris, but to erase the
very evidence of war crimes and collective devastation.

A recent report by *Haaretz *reveals that Israeli demolition contractors,
operating in coordination with the military, are paid roughly $1,500 for
every Palestinian home
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/gaza-flattened-for-pay--not--need---iof-reward-operators-for>
they raze. For segments of "Israel’s" economic sector, the war on Gaza is
seen not as a humanitarian catastrophe, but as a lucrative “commercial
opportunity.” This arrangement underscores what rights groups call a
disturbing collusion between the army and private profiteers.
A profitable operation amid suffering

Speaking to *Al Mayadeen net,* Palestinian first responder Nouh
al-Shanghoubi gave a firsthand account of the exploitation unfolding on the
ground: “Israeli bulldozers and military trucks are transporting enormous
quantities of rubble from Gaza into the occupied interior on a daily
basis,” he said.

“The materials are then sorted and processed in Israeli factories, where
they are recycled and sold to construction companies. What we’re witnessing
is not just debris removal
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/debris-from-destruction-adds-to-health-crisis-in-gaza--un>,
it’s the industrialized theft of Gaza’s ruins, a massive profit-making
scheme generating tens of millions of dollars,” al-Shanghoubi stressed.

Al-Shanghoubi emphasized that behind each load of concrete lies a destroyed
home, a family’s memory, and a community erased, now commodified for profit.

He explained that the process follows a disturbing pattern: entire
communities are forcibly evacuated, followed by widespread destruction
through airstrikes or controlled demolitions.

“Then the bulldozers come in and strip the land clean, as if no one ever
lived there,” he stressed. “We’re only 20 kilometers away from these areas,
and still, Israeli warplanes are tracking our every move. No one’s talking
about it anymore because no one remains to witness or document what’s
happening.”
Crushing evidence, literally

Palestinian journalist Wael Abu Omar echoed these concerns, noting a
troubling shift in the visibility of Israeli operations: “We’re now seeing
crushers working in plain sight,” he said.

“Heavy machinery is being used to pulverize the rubble, everything that
enters is reduced to dust or powder. There is absolutely no oversight, and
no one on the ground has the means or access to document what’s really
happening,” Abu Omar added.

As Israeli machinery grinds Gaza’s ruins into raw materials, Palestinians
are left sifting
<https://english.almayadeen.net/videos/who-s-making-gaza--unlivable>
through what remains of their lives. With cement and steel nearly
impossible to obtain, many families have resorted to salvaging fragments of
their destroyed homes, recycling broken bricks, bent rebar, and shattered
tiles in a desperate, defiant effort to rebuild.

“People are doing everything they can just to restore a single room,” Abu
Omar explained. “They’re using broken stones to rebuild, even just a corner
of their homes, as a symbol of resilience.”
More than just theft

But Abu Omar warned that the looting isn’t simply about money. “This is a
deliberate strategy to erase evidence of the war crimes
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/arab-officials-reject-trump-gaza-displacement-plan-in-letter>
committed here,” he said. “It’s meant to prevent any chance of return or
reconstruction, and to expand 'Israel’s' military grip.”

He concluded with a stark contrast: “To us, the rubble represents life, a
chance to rebuild. To the occupation, it’s a tool. They use it to build
illegal settlements and to clear sightlines in military zones, eliminating
the tactical cover that destroyed buildings might offer to resistance
fighters.”
Erasing evidence and forcing displacement: Gaza’s vanishing rubble

In southern Gaza, the destruction isn’t just visible, it’s strategic.
According to Mohammad al-Haj Youssef, spokesperson for the Civil Defense in
Rafah, "Israel" is deliberately transforming Gaza into an uninhabitable
zone.

“The occupation is trying to make Gaza a place unfit for life, forcing
people to abandon their homeland,” he told *Al Mayadeen net*.

With basic resources cut off and fuel supplies scarce, many families are
turning to unconventional means of survival.

“Some households are burning scraps of wood and plastic from their
destroyed homes to cook or keep their children warm,” Youssef explained.
“The rubble has become a tool for resistance, a means of staying alive.”

But he warned that more is at stake than survival; the debris itself may
hold critical forensic value.

“Remnants like missile fragments, bomb casings, and shrapnel could serve as
material evidence for international investigators,” Youssef stressed.
“That’s precisely why 'Israel' is so intent on clearing everything, not
just for tactical or logistical reasons, but to erase the physical proof of
its crimes. Every truckload of rubble removed is a potential war crime
buried, a silenced witness that could otherwise speak in international
courts or be exposed by the global media.”
Looting the rubble: A blow to Gaza’s reconstruction

Economist Ahmad Abu Qamar sees the rubble not as waste, but as untapped
economic value. “Gaza’s debris is part of a circular economy,” he told *Al
Mayadeen Net*. “It contains valuable materials like cement, steel, and
electrical wiring; it’s not conventional trash.”

Estimates from the UN Development Programme and Gaza’s Ministry of Public
Works suggest that over 50 million tons of rubble
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/environment/-israel--turns-gaza-to-rubble--and-the-planet-pays-deadly-ca>
now cover the Strip. In a functioning economy, such volume could support
vital development projects.

“That amount could be used for port development or coastal land
reclamation,” Abu Qamar noted. Instead, he says, "Israel" has capitalized
on the destruction.

“This is a double crime,” he said. “'Israel' didn’t just destroy Gaza’s
infrastructure and economy, it turned the debris into a booming business,
establishing recycling plants inside the occupied territories and using the
materials for profitable infrastructure projects.”

According to Abu Qamar, the removal of rubble by Israeli occupation forces
will have severe financial consequences for Palestinian recovery efforts.

“Stealing the debris will drive up the cost of reconstruction by more than
20%,” he warned. “Had these materials been retained locally, they could
have played a crucial role in easing the burden of rebuilding, especially
amid the severe shortage of cement, steel, and basic construction supplies
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/gaza-lying-in-ruins--14-year-path-to-recovery-amid-mass-disp>.
Every truckload taken is not just theft, it’s a direct blow to Gaza’s
ability to recover.”
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