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Gaza Families Demand Answers on 11,200 Missing at ICRC Protest
(MENAFN) Palestinian families rallied outside the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) office in Gaza City on Sunday, demanding information about thousands of people missing or believed forcibly disappeared since Israel's war on the enclave began in October 2023.
The demonstration fell on the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, marked annually on Aug. 30.
Palestinian officials say more than 11,200 people remain missing or unaccounted for — a total that includes those believed trapped beneath rubble, individuals who vanished during Israeli military operations or displacement, and an unknown number thought to be held in Israeli custody.
Among the protesters was the mother of Mahmoud Bassem Matar, 25, who went missing on March 12 after leaving home during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Now displaced at the Nuseirat refugee camp, she told Anadolu that her son suffers from psychological disorders and requires special care. She said relatives had searched for him and reached out to hospitals, missing-persons organizations, and the Red Cross, but came up empty.
"We don't know whether he's alive or dead," she said. "I just want one piece of information about Mahmoud."
'Cry from the depths of my heart'
Reem Abu Khuwaid told media that Israeli forces detained her husband and two sons during a December 2023 incursion into Gaza City.
"Since then, I have known nothing about them. I don't know whether they killed them or imprisoned them," she said.
She said repeated efforts to learn anything had gone unanswered.
"Where are my sons and my husband?" she said. "This is the cry I am sending from the depths of my heart."
Mohammed Saleha, general coordinator of the Palestinian NGOs Network, told Anadolu that more than 11,200 Palestinians in Gaza remain unaccounted for.
"Some are under the rubble, while others are in Israeli prisons," he said.
Saleha said Palestinian authorities have no way of knowing how many people are being held in Israeli detention, and accused Israel of concealing information about their whereabouts.
"Their families have the right to know their fate and where they are," he said, calling on the ICRC, the UN, and other international bodies to press Israel for answers.
On Saturday, the Palestinian Center for Missing and Forcibly Disappeared Persons estimated that between 2,500 and 3,000 people may have been forcibly disappeared during the war.
The Palestinian Justice Ministry places the total number of missing or forcibly disappeared Palestinians since Oct. 7, 2023, at more than 11,200, including over 4,700 women and children. That figure also encompasses people believed buried under rubble, those who disappeared during military operations or displacement, and individuals suspected of being detained without their families being notified of their location.
Since a ceasefire took effect last October, as many as 1,313 Palestinians have been killed and 4,361 injured in Israeli violations, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. In total, Israel's war on Gaza since October 2023 has killed at least 73,449 people and injured 174,472.
The demonstration fell on the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, marked annually on Aug. 30.
Palestinian officials say more than 11,200 people remain missing or unaccounted for — a total that includes those believed trapped beneath rubble, individuals who vanished during Israeli military operations or displacement, and an unknown number thought to be held in Israeli custody.
Among the protesters was the mother of Mahmoud Bassem Matar, 25, who went missing on March 12 after leaving home during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Now displaced at the Nuseirat refugee camp, she told Anadolu that her son suffers from psychological disorders and requires special care. She said relatives had searched for him and reached out to hospitals, missing-persons organizations, and the Red Cross, but came up empty.
"We don't know whether he's alive or dead," she said. "I just want one piece of information about Mahmoud."
'Cry from the depths of my heart'
Reem Abu Khuwaid told media that Israeli forces detained her husband and two sons during a December 2023 incursion into Gaza City.
"Since then, I have known nothing about them. I don't know whether they killed them or imprisoned them," she said.
She said repeated efforts to learn anything had gone unanswered.
"Where are my sons and my husband?" she said. "This is the cry I am sending from the depths of my heart."
Mohammed Saleha, general coordinator of the Palestinian NGOs Network, told Anadolu that more than 11,200 Palestinians in Gaza remain unaccounted for.
"Some are under the rubble, while others are in Israeli prisons," he said.
Saleha said Palestinian authorities have no way of knowing how many people are being held in Israeli detention, and accused Israel of concealing information about their whereabouts.
"Their families have the right to know their fate and where they are," he said, calling on the ICRC, the UN, and other international bodies to press Israel for answers.
On Saturday, the Palestinian Center for Missing and Forcibly Disappeared Persons estimated that between 2,500 and 3,000 people may have been forcibly disappeared during the war.
The Palestinian Justice Ministry places the total number of missing or forcibly disappeared Palestinians since Oct. 7, 2023, at more than 11,200, including over 4,700 women and children. That figure also encompasses people believed buried under rubble, those who disappeared during military operations or displacement, and individuals suspected of being detained without their families being notified of their location.
Since a ceasefire took effect last October, as many as 1,313 Palestinians have been killed and 4,361 injured in Israeli violations, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. In total, Israel's war on Gaza since October 2023 has killed at least 73,449 people and injured 174,472.
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