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In Gaza: The shadow of the missing

Nearly 10,000 people in Gaza remain buried under the rubble, killed in inaccessible areas, or are victims of enforced disappearance by the Israeli army.

In Gaza: The shadow of the missing

The burial of 47 people in Rafah, in the south of the Palestinian enclave, during a joint funeral on March 7, 2024. (Credit: AFP)

Alaa Mortaja lost contact with her father and brother on March 22, 2024. “It was a Ramadan afternoon. The Israeli army was bombing our street, just steps from al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City,” recalled the 34-year-old pharmacist. “I had my father on the phone when soldiers entered the building. He was panicked — he said there was a burning smell all around him.”The call was cut off. The building was later demolished.“People in the neighborhood, our friends — they offered condolences,” she said. But a month later, against all odds, a recently released Palestinian detainee told her he had seen both her father, Ahmad, and her brother, Mohammad, alive in Israel’s Naqqab prison.From that point on, Mortaja searched everywhere for answers. “I kept asking people: ‘Have you seen my father? Have you seen my brother?’” she said. In June 2024,...
Alaa Mortaja lost contact with her father and brother on March 22, 2024. “It was a Ramadan afternoon. The Israeli army was bombing our street, just steps from al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City,” recalled the 34-year-old pharmacist. “I had my father on the phone when soldiers entered the building. He was panicked — he said there was a burning smell all around him.”The call was cut off. The building was later demolished.“People in the neighborhood, our friends — they offered condolences,” she said. But a month later, against all odds, a recently released Palestinian detainee told her he had seen both her father, Ahmad, and her brother, Mohammad, alive in Israel’s Naqqab prison.From that point on, Mortaja searched everywhere for answers. “I kept asking people: ‘Have you seen my father? Have you seen my brother?’” she...
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