Gaza War Rights Group Says Up to 3,000 People May Have Been Forcibly Disappeared
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A Palestinian rights group estimates that between 2,500 and 3,000 people may have been subjected to enforced disappearance in Gaza during Israel’s war, calling for investigations into their fate.
The Palestinian Center for Missing and Forcibly Disappeared Persons based its estimate on an analysis of 317 documented cases. The group stressed that the sample does not represent all missing or forcibly disappeared people in Gaza.
Of the cases examined, 302 involved men and 15 involved women, including 41 children and 17 people aged 60 or older. Gaza City recorded the highest number of cases, followed by northern Gaza, Khan Younis, central Gaza and Rafah.
The center said many disappearances occurred during military raids or neighborhood sieges, while others were reported during displacement, at checkpoints, while people searched for food or waited for humanitarian aid, and around medical facilities.
Separately, the group estimated that another 4,000 to 5,000 people remain missing under the rubble of destroyed buildings. It stressed that these cases should not be classified as enforced disappearances.
The center called for information about missing people to be disclosed, access for the International Committee of the Red Cross to detainees and an independent international mechanism to investigate alleged disappearances and establish accountability.
