This year, 30 August, marks the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearance, at a time when the suffering of Palestinians subjected to enforced disappearance continues, while the suffering of their families intensifies as they remain unaware of the fate of their loved ones. This comes amid the continued refusal of the occupying State to undertake any efforts that would reveal the fate of victims of enforced disappearance or conduct investigations that could contribute to ending this suffering, which grows more severe day after day for the victims’ families. Such conduct constitutes a crime that warrants the prosecution of those who committed it and those who ordered its commission, in accordance with the provisions of international law.

According to the monitoring and documentation work continuously undertaken by Al Mezan during the crime of genocide in the Gaza Strip, since October 2023, the occupation authorities have carried out widespread intentional killings and detentions. The crime of enforced disappearance has emerged as a prominent feature of the treatment of the population of the Gaza Strip, as the fate of thousands of Palestinians has been rendered unknown. This has occurred after thousands of civilians were killed in areas under the control of the occupation forces, which have failed to comply with the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention requiring the handover of bodies and the conduct of investigations capable of establishing the time and place of death, the particulars of the victims, and other measures aimed at establishing their identity.

The features of the crime of enforced disappearance in the Gaza Strip became evident as the occupation forces, since October 2023, carried out widespread, arbitrary and degrading detention campaigns targeting thousands of Palestinians. They were detained from their homes, shelters, hospitals, or at checkpoints established by the occupation forces. At the same time, the occupation authorities have refused to acknowledge the fate of hundreds of them or provide information regarding their places of detention and conditions. Al Mezan Center for Human Rights has received hundreds of complaints from residents of the Gaza Strip concerning the disappearance of their loved ones. When the Center’s lawyers sought information about their fate from the Israeli occupation authorities, they received responses stating that they were not held in Israeli prisons. This raises serious concerns for their lives and fate, particularly the possibility that they may have been subjected to torture resulting in death inside detention facilities and that their bodies may have been buried without disclosure, or that some may be held in undisclosed places of detention that lawyers have not been permitted to visit.

Regarding the suffering of families of victims of enforced disappearance, the Center presents excerpts from the testimony of the sister of the two missing persons, K. S. (17 years old) and L. S. (23 years old), which she gave to the Center’s staff:

“At around 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, 15/7/2025, my two brothers went towards the northwestern areas of Gaza City to collect firewood to use for cooking, which our family could not afford to buy due to its high price. They would usually return to the tent in the afternoon carrying some wood and paper. However, on that day, they did not return. By evening, we became worried and began searching for them by contacting their friends and relatives, hoping that they might know where they were. That night, we began searching in hospitals and morgues, but to no avail. Every time bodies were recovered from the northwestern areas, we would go there in the hope of identifying them, but to no avail. We contacted some institutions to find out whether they had been detained in prisons inside the occupied territories, but to no avail. Since that date, we have been living in a state of anticipation, anxiety, and fear for the fate of my brothers. We do not sleep at night as we wait for any news that might tell us what happened to them.”

The crime of enforced disappearance is continuous in nature and results in depriving its victims of their status and human dignity. At the same time, it exacerbates their psychological, health, and social suffering after excluding them from the scope of legal protection. It also causes unparalleled suffering to the victims’ families, who remain unaware of whether their loved ones are alive or not. The suffering is further compounded when the person subjected to enforced disappearance is the sole breadwinner of their family, which results in violations of a wide range of the economic, social, and cultural rights of the victims and their families.

Al Mezan Center condemns the crimes committed by the Israeli occupation forces, particularly the crime of enforced disappearance. At the same time, it expresses its full solidarity with the victims and their families in their terrible and ongoing humanitarian ordeal throughout the continuing crime of genocide. The Center calls for launching the largest campaign to shed light on and internationalize the issue of missing persons, in a manner that ensures revealing their fate and guarantees their enjoyment of the protection afforded under international law.

Accordingly, the Center calls upon the international community to assume its legal and moral responsibilities towards the population of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and to intervene effectively to stop the crime of genocide in the Gaza Strip, address the issue of missing persons, ensure that perpetrators of the crime of enforced disappearance do not enjoy impunity, provide redress to victims and compensation for the harm inflicted upon them, and compel the occupying State to comply with the provisions of international law and all rules established by international conventions.

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