Their number is no less than 7,000, and Gaza’s missing people are a festering wound policy

Gaza – Aya Sammour, a young Palestinian woman, moves from one place to another in search of her father, who has been missing for 13 days. She said that her father is paralyzed and is 67 years old. No trace of him disappeared in the city. .. GazaIsraeli forces invaded the beach camp about two weeks ago.

Three days ago, people told Aya they saw her father’s body dumped near the displacement corridor linking the southern and northern Gaza Strip. The stories she heard added to the uncertainty about her father’s fate.

“We were told that they saw it 13 days ago near…” she told Al Jazeera. Shifa Hospital (Western Gaza) and others told us that occupation soldiers in tanks opened fire on the car he was riding in, but others said they shot near him rather than at him. ”

Complaint no information

After being displaced from her family, Aya now lives with her mother in the central Gaza Strip. She added, “We don’t know anything about my father. Is he alive, dead or injured? We don’t know anything. His name is not on the list of martyrs and he was not injured in the hospital.” She noted that she ‘s father is paralyzed and suffers from heart disease, diabetes and blood pressure.

Her mother Siham Sammour intervened, saying she had lodged a complaint against him International Committee of the Red Cross Three days after she lost her husband and with nothing to show for it, she added to Al Jazeera: “For 13 days, I have not received any information about my husband. They told us that he might be taking refuge in Al-Shifa hospital, but all the survivors and the deceased have been evacuated from the hospital.”

missing family

The suffering of the people is not limited to personal losses, but also extends to the loss of entire families. In this regard, Abdul Nur Everanji, a young man currently in Turkey, said that he does not know what his fate will be. His family is in Gaza, except for his father, whose martyrdom has been confirmed.

Efrangi told Al Jazeera, “On November 10, my family was crossing Shuhada Street next to the famous Metro Market, and tanks opened fire on them, resulting in the martyrdom of my father. His body is still lying on the ground.” To this day. , my mother and sister were both injured. ”

Since then, Al-Efranji has been kept in the dark about the fate of his family, 11 people including his mother and four siblings. He added, “I want to know if my family is still alive.”

As for Nevin Douima, who lost contact with her husband and his family 23 days ago, she told Al Jazeera that she had no information about her husband and his family (Abu Mazen Ashour Mazen Ashour), who disappeared in 2017. Sheikh Ajlin neighborhood southwest of Gaza City.

She said her husband’s siblings have special needs and require daily medication, adding, “Some say Israeli tanks are near the area and there are martyrs on nearby streets.”

More than 7,000 people are missing

The previous testimonies are simply examples of the suffering of thousands of Palestinian families who have lost their children to the horrific war being waged. Israel in the Gaza Strip since October 7 last year.

The Gaza Strip Government Media Office stated that the number of people missing due to the war is no less than 7,000, distributed among people and families under the rubble of houses demolished by the occupying forces. Their residents, those murdered in cold blood in the streets with their bodies still lying there, and others. The army kidnapped them in corridors designated for residents displaced between the northern and southern Gaza Strip.

The role of the Red Cross

Hisham Muhanna, the official spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza, said they had received numerous calls from family members reporting missing or arrested children.

Regarding the operational mechanism of the Red Cross in these cases, Muhana told Al Jazeera, “We share with the caller the operational mechanism of the International Committee of the Red Cross, whose representatives are trying to send information about missing persons to report to the Israeli authorities, and Trying to get information about their fate.” He added: “If we receive information from the Israeli side about their fate, we will only share it with their families and not publicly.”

Asked about the extent to which the Israeli occupying forces were cooperating with them on this issue, Muhana responded: “I cannot disclose any information about the document, but what we can say is that we are working to obtain information about it Message of Destiny.” Those who have been arrested, and any information we receive from the Israeli military, we will share it with them. “Families of detainees.

Regarding the number of inquiries received by the International Committee about missing persons, Muhana said, “We have no statistics that can be shared through the media. This document is sensitive and because the working mechanism of the Red Cross is well known, it is a Trying to negotiate with the detaining authorities and maintaining the principle of trustworthiness actually qualifies us to deliver information to the families of missing persons.

severe psychological and social effects

Dr Arub Jamala, a social and psychological expert, noted that the suffering of the families of the missing was “extremely severe”, telling Al Jazeera that “it is neither easy nor easy for families to leave”. “Their son’s fate is in a state of uncertainty. The mind may not be able to wrap its head around it. The psychological impact is difficult, including feeling very nervous and overwhelmed.”

“Muslims and believers in God’s will and destiny are better equipped than others to bear the horror of this tragedy,” she said, but added that “despite certainty and satisfaction in God’s will, the intensity of the stress may cause A state in which the nerves are out of control, producing a flood of negative thoughts and feelings of helplessness.”

She warned that the suffering of families of missing persons could increase after war ends as they enter what is known as “post-traumatic stress syndrome,” a condition more difficult than traumatic stress itself.

She called on the local community, family members of the missing persons and relevant institutions to provide them with psychological support services. She added, “They must be followed closely and intensively socially and psychologically, and plans must be put in place to protect them from the difficulties they will face later in life.”