Thousands missing in Gaza as families search for relatives

When Israeli strikes and ground operations began in late 2023, thousands of Palestinians in Gaza fled their homes and many have since been searching for relatives who vanished amid the fighting, rubble and mass displacements. Families and humanitarian organizations say the scale of missing persons is large and unresolved, with relatives, aid groups and officials reporting cases of people buried under destroyed buildings, detained in Israeli custody, or unaccounted for after raids and assaults.

Mohammad alNajjar, speaking from a tent in Muwasi on Gaza’s southern coast, said his 23-year-old son Ahmad disappeared the night their neighborhood was bombed in December 2023. “It is as if the earth has swallowed him,” the father said, describing searches of morgues, rubble and inquiries with the International Committee of the Red Cross. Hundreds of other families tell similar stories: sons, daughters and whole households who have not been found.

Gaza’s Health Ministry, which is part of the territory’s governing authority, told authorities that relatives have reported about 6,000 people still buried under rubble. The ministry has also logged roughly 3,600 additional missing persons whose...