In Gaza, Palestinians search for thousands of missing relatives every day

• Eliane Lamper

  Foreign editor

Many thousands of Palestinians are missing in Gaza. They are still buried under the rubble of their homes after Israeli bombardments, have gone missing during their flight or have been captured. Family and friends often do not know where their loved ones are, and make every effort to find out where they are.

The International Red Cross receives hundreds of calls every day from Palestinians who have lost their families. Aid workers have already registered more than 7,000 missing people at call centers in Gaza and the West Bank. There may be many more, because not everyone contacts us or there is no longer any family to report.

One of the missing is 15-year-old Mohammed Fojo. The boy went with two friends in January to pick up some things from their old house, his father Khamis told NOS. “He was going to be gone for half an hour and he had his cell phone with him.” But his son never returned and could no longer be reached. Khamis believes he is buried under the rubble or has been captured by the Israeli army.

Khamis has been searching for son Mohammed (15) in Gaza for months

After almost four months on the streets, Khamis continues to ask if anyone has seen his son, or if any new bodies have been discovered in the area. Police stations, cemeteries, hospitals: there is no place he hasn’t visited yet. Mohammed’s details are known to the Red Cross. The aid organization has not yet been able to do anything for him.

According to Hamas-controlled Gaza authorities, nearly 35,000 people have been killed by Israeli bombing or as a result of the war, most of them women and children. The authorities in Gaza and the West Bank receive the names, ages and identity numbers of these people through doctors. The missing are not included in these lists and so the death toll is even higher.

Most people are still under the rubble after bombings. The heavy air raids razed residential blocks throughout the area. Residents try to dig out victims with their hands, often without success. Others lost their relatives in the chaos of fleeing and never found them again.

Images also show that Palestinians have been killed by drones or military fire while walking in deserted places or distributing food. Hundreds of people have disappeared during the siege of Shifa and Nasser hospitals in recent months. They may have been captured and taken away or may lie in one of the mass graves recently discovered.

Red Cross workers hear “heartbreaking stories” every day from relatives who are close to despair, said spokesperson Sarah Davies from Nablus in the occupied West Bank. “We know from other conflicts that it is not cold or hunger that is the worst thing, but the ignorance of where your loved one is and whether they are still alive. People want an answer.”

It is almost impossible for the Red Cross to find missing people. Almost everyone is on the run and people are difficult to reach because connections are poor and Israel has cut off electricity since October. “We can’t go looking for people and knocking on doors ourselves,” says Davies. “Nobody has a home address anymore.”

Although there is a good chance that Mohammed – Khamis’ son – is under a collapsed building or can no longer be easily identified, his father continues to search tirelessly. “When I saw the devastation where my son had been, I lost all hope,” Khamis said. “If my son has died, I want to bury him. If he has already been buried, I want to know where he is.”