Doha: Al-Watan newspaper reported that yesterday, on the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, thousands of Palestinian families in the Gaza Strip continue their search for relatives who went missing during Israel's conflict. The families are left without conclusive information on whether their loved ones were killed, arrested, or remain alive.

According to Qatar News Agency, the Palestinian Ministry of Justice revealed that since October 7, 2023, more than 11,200 Palestinians are missing or forcibly disappeared. This number includes over 4,700 women and children, in addition to those killed whose bodies remain under rubble, and an unknown number of detainees in Israeli facilities without information about their fate.

Al-Watan highlighted statements from Palestinian institutions focused on prisoners' affairs, which claim that Israel has, for the third consecutive year, engaged in enforced disappearances of thousands from the Gaza Strip. The Israeli authorities are reportedly withholding critical information about detainees, including their names, detention locations, and health conditions, further denying them contact with family, lawyers, and human rights organizations. This practice is seen as an integrated system of enforced disappearance, creating opportunities for torture, ill-treatment, and medical crimes.

The newspaper further emphasized that the Palestinian authorities lack precise data on the number of missing individuals in Israeli prisons, as the Israeli entity refuses to disclose such information. Families are left in a state of pain and anxiety, torn between hope and fear, as they await news of their missing loved ones.

In its concluding remarks, Al-Watan stressed the necessity of revealing the fate of all the missing, ensuring International Committee of the Red Cross access to detainees, and establishing an independent international mechanism to investigate enforced disappearance cases and hold those responsible accountable.