Palestinian Center Estimates 2,500 To 3,000 Forcibly Disappeared In Gaza

A Palestinian Center for Missing Persons and Victims of Forced Disappearance estimated that about 2,500 to 3,000 people are suspected of being forcibly disappeared in the Gaza Strip during the Israeli war, on the eve of the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances observed on August 30 each year.

“estimated, on Saturday, the number of people suspected of being forcibly disappeared in the Gaza Strip during the Israeli war at around 2,500 to 3,000 people”

Akhir khabar

The center said the estimate came from an analytical study prepared based on a sample of 317 cases, relying on reports submitted by families of the missing and cases documented in the field, and it stressed the study does not represent the total number of losses or enforced disappearances in the sector.

Akhir khabar

The study found males accounted for 302 cases, i.e., 95.27%, compared to 15 females, and it included 41 children and 17 people over 60 years old.

It also said the Gaza Governorate topped the regions with 89 cases, followed by North Gaza with 74, then Khan Yunis with 59, the Central Governorate with 37, and Rafah with 32.

In describing circumstances, the center said Israeli forces’ intrusions into homes and the blockade of neighborhoods accounted for 76 cases as the leading conditions of disappearance, followed by 60 cases during attempts to return home or obtain basic needs, and 42 cases during displacement or passage through military checkpoints.

The Palestinian Center for Missing and Forcibly Disappeared said the same 317-case analytical study documented 39 cases occurring while searching for food or awaiting aid, and 22 cases related to a blockade or raid on medical facilities or the transfer of patients, with 10 cases during journalistic and field work.

It further estimated that between 4,000 and 5,000 people are missing and believed to still be under the rubble of destroyed buildings, stressing the need not to confuse them with those suspected of being subjected to enforced disappearance.

Al-Ittihad lil-Akhbar

The center’s data also placed the leading pre-disappearance circumstances at 76 cases tied to Israeli army forces invading homes and besieging neighborhoods, followed by 60 cases during attempts to return to homes or retrieve belongings, and 42 cases during displacement or passage through military checkpoints.

In the same framework, it said the Gaza Governorate recorded the highest number with 89 cases, followed by North Gaza (74), Khan Yunis (59), the Central Governorate (37), and Rafah (32).

The study’s emphasis on access and verification appeared in its call for disclosing the fate of all the missing and ensuring the International Committee of the Red Cross access to the detainees, alongside establishing an international, independent mechanism to investigate enforced disappearance cases and hold those responsible accountable.

The sources tied the enforced-disappearance estimate to the wider scale of the war on Gaza, with Akhir khabar saying the ongoing Israeli war on the Gaza Strip since October 2023 has resulted in the death of more than 73,000 Palestinians and injuries to over 174,000, most of them children and women.

“death of more than 73,000 Palestinians and injuries to over 174,000”

Akhir khabar

Daily Sabah reported that the Gaza Health Ministry said the death toll in Gaza has risen to 73,449 since Israel launched its war on the Palestinian enclave in October 2023, while the ministry said the overall number of injured Palestinians since the start of the war has reached 174,472.

Daily Sabah also said the ministry reported nine Palestinians were killed and 18 injured over the past 48 hours, with hospitals receiving the bodies of nine victims and another body recovered from the rubble, while it added that other victims remained trapped beneath destroyed buildings or on roads where ambulance and civil defense crews were unable to reach them.

In parallel, the Palestinian Center for Missing and Forcibly Disappeared warned that the 2,500 to 3,000 figure is based on a sample of 317 cases and does not represent the full number of missing or forcibly disappeared people in Gaza, but it said the findings contained indicators warranting an investigation into whether enforced disappearance had occurred on a broader scale.

The legal and humanitarian stakes were framed through the UN definition of enforced disappearance as the arrest, detention or abduction of a person by state authorities or by actors operating with their authorization, support or acquiescence, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or reveal the person’s fate or whereabouts.