The Palestinian Center for Missing and Forcibly Disappeared Persons stated that Israel is responsible for the fate of more than 8,000 missing Palestinians in Gaza since the war began on October 7, 2023.
In its statement on Tuesday, the center stressed that the ongoing “blackout of the fate of the missing constitutes a crime no less horrific than the crimes of aggression committed by Israel.”
“Thousands of Palestinian families continue searching for their sons amid the rubble and in Israeli prisons, as Israel’s policy of concealment, information blackout, and denial of reliable prisoner information persists,” the statement added.
The center estimated the number of missing Palestinians at between 8,000 and 9,000, noting that only 5,000 have been officially registered so far. Most of the cases were registered in Gaza, the center added.
The center urged the United Nations and the international community to take urgent action to uncover the fate of the missing in Gaza, pressure Israel to disclose mass graves, and allow the entry of teams and equipment to recover and identify bodies.
Since the start of the war on October 7, 2023, more than 67,173 Palestinians have been killed, and approximately 169,780 others have been injured, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza.
