Three years into the war on Gaza, the clearest evidence of what has happened is still being dug out of the ground. In September 2026, UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk reported that extensive human remains, mostly of women and children, were still being recovered from buildings destroyed by Israeli attacks. He raised serious concerns about compliance with international law and possible war crimes.
The numbers behind that report are sobering. Palestinian Civil Defence says it recovered over 630 bodies and human remains between November 2025 and September 2026, and estimates that more than 8,000 people may still be missing beneath the rubble. Türk warned that the recoveries may be only “the tip of the iceberg.” Every one of those missing is a family still waiting.
For the living, the ruins are home. UN humanitarian assessments found more than 4,000 buildings requiring full or partial demolition, and over 2,300 of them are still inhabited by nearly 44,000 people. Many families have no choice but to shelter in structures that could collapse on them.
A displaced population
Displacement remains a defining feature of the crisis. WHO reported on 24 September that approximately 1.7 million people remained displaced, many of them in overcrowded conditions with inadequate shelter, water and sanitation. These are not temporary hardships. For many, they have lasted years.
Gaza’s health system has been brought to the brink of collapse. Since 2023, WHO has recorded at least 920 attacks on health facilities and personnel, and more than 1,700 health workers have been killed. Patients who need cancer treatment, dialysis and specialist care continue to face severe restrictions.
Water is just as fragile. OCHA reported that 74 per cent of Gaza’s population relied on trucked drinking water, while reduced desalination capacity threatened supplies for approximately 500,000 people. In the week ending 26 September, communicable diseases accounted for 19 per cent of more than 280,000 health consultations. In conditions like these, disease follows displacement and a lack of clean water.
The crisis is not confined to Gaza. In the occupied West Bank, settlement expansion, settler violence, demolitions, evictions and displacement have intensified. UN reporting recorded more than 1,430 settler-related incidents in 2026, affecting approximately 260 communities. Around 3,800 Palestinians have been displaced, nearly half of them children.
The settlement drive continues despite repeated UN resolutions. During the latest reporting period, Israeli planning authorities advanced or approved approximately 4,570 housing units in Area C and 3,515 in East Jerusalem. The UN warns that such expansion fragments Palestinian territory and undermines the prospect of a contiguous Palestinian state. This is not incidental to the war. It shapes what peace might look like afterwards.
The legal dimension is fundamental. In its July 2024 Advisory Opinion, the International Court of Justice determined that Israel’s continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is unlawful, and it called for that presence to end. Two years later, settlements are expanding, not retreating.
The information environment has also come under severe pressure. UNESCO maintains an Observatory of Killed Journalists, which documents journalists killed in the line of duty and the judicial status of their cases. A war that kills those who report on it is also a war on the public’s right to know what is happening.
Pakistan’s position
Pakistan’s position is consistent, and it is grounded in law. It calls for an independent, sovereign, viable and contiguous Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital. It opposes settlement expansion, annexationist measures, settler violence and forced displacement in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. It also calls for respect for the relevant UN resolutions and for international law.
Pakistan has backed that stance with practical help. By February 2026, NDMA-led relief efforts had dispatched 29 consignments totalling 2,827 tonnes of food, medicines, tents and other essential supplies. In September 2026, Pakistan joined seven Arab and Islamic states in calling for immediate, safe and unhindered humanitarian assistance and early recovery in Gaza.
What accountability looks like
Three years of data point to a simple conclusion. Recovering the dead, rebuilding homes, restoring hospitals and securing clean water all depend on unimpeded access, which has not been delivered. Lasting peace also depends on addressing the occupation itself, which the ICJ has found unlawful.
The international community has the evidence, the legal opinion and the UN resolutions it needs. What has been missing is the will to enforce them. Until that changes, the rubble in Gaza and the bulldozers in the West Bank will keep making the case that words have not.
Three Years On, the Rubble Still Speaks
Three years into the war on Gaza, the clearest evidence of what has happened is still being dug out of the ground. In September 2026, UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk reported that extensive human remains, mostly of women and children, were still being recovered from buildings destroyed by Israeli attacks. He raised serious concerns about compliance with international law and possible war crimes.
The numbers behind that report are sobering. Palestinian Civil Defence says it recovered over 630 bodies and human remains between November 2025 and September 2026, and estimates that more than 8,000 people may still be missing beneath the rubble. Türk warned that the recoveries may be only “the tip of the iceberg.” Every one of those missing is a family still waiting.
For the living, the ruins are home. UN humanitarian assessments found more than 4,000 buildings requiring full or partial demolition, and over 2,300 of them are still inhabited by nearly 44,000 people. Many families have no choice but to shelter in structures that could collapse on them.
A displaced population
Displacement remains a defining feature of the crisis. WHO reported on 24 September that approximately 1.7 million people remained displaced, many of them in overcrowded conditions with inadequate shelter, water and sanitation. These are not temporary hardships. For many, they have lasted years.
Gaza’s health system has been brought to the brink of collapse. Since 2023, WHO has recorded at least 920 attacks on health facilities and personnel, and more than 1,700 health workers have been killed. Patients who need cancer treatment, dialysis and specialist care continue to face severe restrictions.
Water is just as fragile. OCHA reported that 74 per cent of Gaza’s population relied on trucked drinking water, while reduced desalination capacity threatened supplies for approximately 500,000 people. In the week ending 26 September, communicable diseases accounted for 19 per cent of more than 280,000 health consultations. In conditions like these, disease follows displacement and a lack of clean water.
The crisis is not confined to Gaza. In the occupied West Bank, settlement expansion, settler violence, demolitions, evictions and displacement have intensified. UN reporting recorded more than 1,430 settler-related incidents in 2026, affecting approximately 260 communities. Around 3,800 Palestinians have been displaced, nearly half of them children.
The settlement drive continues despite repeated UN resolutions. During the latest reporting period, Israeli planning authorities advanced or approved approximately 4,570 housing units in Area C and 3,515 in East Jerusalem. The UN warns that such expansion fragments Palestinian territory and undermines the prospect of a contiguous Palestinian state. This is not incidental to the war. It shapes what peace might look like afterwards.
The legal dimension is fundamental. In its July 2024 Advisory Opinion, the International Court of Justice determined that Israel’s continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is unlawful, and it called for that presence to end. Two years later, settlements are expanding, not retreating.
The information environment has also come under severe pressure. UNESCO maintains an Observatory of Killed Journalists, which documents journalists killed in the line of duty and the judicial status of their cases. A war that kills those who report on it is also a war on the public’s right to know what is happening.
Pakistan’s position
Pakistan’s position is consistent, and it is grounded in law. It calls for an independent, sovereign, viable and contiguous Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital. It opposes settlement expansion, annexationist measures, settler violence and forced displacement in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. It also calls for respect for the relevant UN resolutions and for international law.
Pakistan has backed that stance with practical help. By February 2026, NDMA-led relief efforts had dispatched 29 consignments totalling 2,827 tonnes of food, medicines, tents and other essential supplies. In September 2026, Pakistan joined seven Arab and Islamic states in calling for immediate, safe and unhindered humanitarian assistance and early recovery in Gaza.
What accountability looks like
Three years of data point to a simple conclusion. Recovering the dead, rebuilding homes, restoring hospitals and securing clean water all depend on unimpeded access, which has not been delivered. Lasting peace also depends on addressing the occupation itself, which the ICJ has found unlawful.
The international community has the evidence, the legal opinion and the UN resolutions it needs. What has been missing is the will to enforce them. Until that changes, the rubble in Gaza and the bulldozers in the West Bank will keep making the case that words have not.
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