As if the earth had swallowed them…thousands of missing people in Gaza and families searching for evidence

Thousands of families in Gaza have the same story: relatives who disappeared during the chaos and fighting, some buried under rubble, others who may have been detained or killed without their identity officially recorded. Catherine Bomberger, Director-General of the International Committee for Missing Persons, describes the mission as “an enormous undertaking.”

Data from the Ministry of Health in Gaza indicate that about 6,000 cases were reported buried under the rubble, while families submitted reports about about 3,600 other missing persons whose status has not been resolved; So far, more than 200 cases have been examined, and seven people detained by Israel have been returned. A separate list at the International Committee of the Red Cross of more than 7,000 missing persons remains unresolved, according to an ICRC spokesman.

The methods of disappearance are diverse: killing under rubble, arrests at checkpoints or raids, bodies left in the streets, and the Israeli army seizing many bodies, sometimes returning them to Gaza without identification or burying them in mass graves.

Families say they face practical and technical difficulties; Missing persons investigations require DNA tests, samples from families, unidentified bodies and aerial photographs to determine burial sites — all “a huge undertaking,” Bomberger says. It adds that Israel, as the occupying power, has the responsibility to take actual steps in this file.

On the other hand, records obtained by human rights organizations show that 2,662 Palestinians from Gaza were detained in Israeli prisons until September, along with hundreds of others in military facilities, according to what local and international organizations reported. Rights groups say many are detained without clear charges or public trials.

As families continue to dig through the rubble or report to hospitals and international agencies, hope remains accompanied by the pain of waiting; Fadwa Al-Ghalban says about her son Musab (27 years old): “There is a fire burning in my heart. Even if someone buries him, the matter is easier than this fire.”

Families and organizations stress that resolving the file of missing persons requires political cooperation and extensive technical and medical resources, because every case of a missing person represents a human story and an ongoing wound that can only be healed by knowing the truth and closing the file.