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Up to 3,000 Gazans Subjected to Enforced Disappearance
(MENAFN) Between 2,500 and 3,000 people are estimated to have been forcibly disappeared in the Gaza Strip during Israel's war, a Palestinian rights group reported Saturday, on the eve of the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances.
The Palestinian Center for Missing and Forcibly Disappeared Persons arrived at the figure through an analytical study of a sample of 317 cases, concluding that the findings point to indicators warranting a broader investigation into a possible pattern of enforced disappearances across Gaza. The center noted its research drew on reports from families of missing individuals and field-documented cases, cautioning that the sample does not capture the full scope of missing or forcibly disappeared people in the territory.
Of the 317 cases reviewed, 302 — or 95.27% — involved males, with 15 females among them. The sample included 41 children and 17 people aged 60 or older. Gaza City recorded the highest number of cases at 89, followed by northern Gaza with 74, Khan Younis with 59, central Gaza with 37, and Rafah with 32.
As for the circumstances surrounding the disappearances, 76 cases occurred during Israeli military raids on homes or sieges of neighborhoods, while 60 took place as people tried to return to their homes or retrieve essential items. Another 42 cases arose during displacement or while individuals passed through military checkpoints, and 39 occurred while people searched for food or waited for aid. The center further documented 22 cases tied to sieges or raids on medical facilities and the transfer of patients, along with 10 cases involving journalists or field workers.
Separately, the organization estimated that between 4,000 and 5,000 people remain missing, believed to be trapped beneath the rubble of destroyed buildings — cases it stressed should not be conflated with suspected enforced disappearances.
In April, the Palestinian Justice Ministry reported that more than 11,200 Palestinians had been listed as missing or forcibly disappeared since October 2023, including more than 4,700 women and children.
The UN defines enforced disappearance as the arrest, detention, or abduction of a person by state authorities or by actors acting with their authorization, support, or acquiescence, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the person's detention or to disclose their fate or whereabouts.
The center is calling for full disclosure of the fate of all missing individuals, access for the International Committee of the Red Cross to detainees, and the creation of an independent international mechanism to investigate enforced disappearance cases and hold those responsible to account.
With US support, Israel launched its war on the Gaza Strip in October 2023, a campaign that has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians and injured over 174,000, the majority of them women and children.
The Palestinian Center for Missing and Forcibly Disappeared Persons arrived at the figure through an analytical study of a sample of 317 cases, concluding that the findings point to indicators warranting a broader investigation into a possible pattern of enforced disappearances across Gaza. The center noted its research drew on reports from families of missing individuals and field-documented cases, cautioning that the sample does not capture the full scope of missing or forcibly disappeared people in the territory.
Of the 317 cases reviewed, 302 — or 95.27% — involved males, with 15 females among them. The sample included 41 children and 17 people aged 60 or older. Gaza City recorded the highest number of cases at 89, followed by northern Gaza with 74, Khan Younis with 59, central Gaza with 37, and Rafah with 32.
As for the circumstances surrounding the disappearances, 76 cases occurred during Israeli military raids on homes or sieges of neighborhoods, while 60 took place as people tried to return to their homes or retrieve essential items. Another 42 cases arose during displacement or while individuals passed through military checkpoints, and 39 occurred while people searched for food or waited for aid. The center further documented 22 cases tied to sieges or raids on medical facilities and the transfer of patients, along with 10 cases involving journalists or field workers.
Separately, the organization estimated that between 4,000 and 5,000 people remain missing, believed to be trapped beneath the rubble of destroyed buildings — cases it stressed should not be conflated with suspected enforced disappearances.
In April, the Palestinian Justice Ministry reported that more than 11,200 Palestinians had been listed as missing or forcibly disappeared since October 2023, including more than 4,700 women and children.
The UN defines enforced disappearance as the arrest, detention, or abduction of a person by state authorities or by actors acting with their authorization, support, or acquiescence, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the person's detention or to disclose their fate or whereabouts.
The center is calling for full disclosure of the fate of all missing individuals, access for the International Committee of the Red Cross to detainees, and the creation of an independent international mechanism to investigate enforced disappearance cases and hold those responsible to account.
With US support, Israel launched its war on the Gaza Strip in October 2023, a campaign that has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians and injured over 174,000, the majority of them women and children.
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