Key facts
- Thousands of people remain missing in Gaza, with families struggling to find answers.
- Ahmed al Madhoun, a 21-year-old with Down's syndrome, disappeared in May 2025.
- The number of missing people is estimated to be over 8,000 by Gaza's Civil Defence.
- Over 1,300 detainees from Gaza are reportedly held in Israeli jails without charge or trial.
- Families of detainees are often not notified by Israel of their relatives' arrest or whereabouts.
Families in Gaza are facing immense anguish as they search for thousands of missing relatives, many of whom are feared to be dead or detained amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. The scale of destruction in Gaza has made it difficult to recover and identify bodies, with the territory's Civil Defence agency estimating over 8,000 people are missing.
Majdiya al Madhoun is searching for her 21-year-old son, Ahmed, who has Down's syndrome and disappeared in May 2025 after going to a local shop. She fears he may have been killed in Israeli strikes, but the uncertainty of his fate leaves her without peace. The official death toll in Gaza, while high, does not account for those buried under the rubble, meaning the true number of casualties could be significantly higher.
Adding to the distress, many families fear their relatives may have been detained by Israeli security forces. According to the Israeli human rights group HaMoked, around 1,300 detainees from Gaza are held in Israeli jails without charge or trial, and families are often not notified of their arrest. Aida al Drimli believes a photograph circulating on social media shows her son, Mahmoud, who disappeared in 2024, in the custody of Israeli soldiers, a discovery that brought both relief and heartbreak.
Both the al Madhoun and al Drimli families state they have no affiliation with militant groups. The Israel Prison Service and the Israeli military have stated they have no record of holding either Ahmed or Mahmoud. Israeli authorities have previously cited wartime security grounds for prolonged detentions and rejected claims of arbitrary arrests.
Tal Steiner, an Israeli lawyer, highlighted the difficulties in tracing detainees, noting that the ban on the International Red Cross visiting prisons and the lack of accessible records from Israel place a significant strain on efforts to locate missing individuals. She emphasized that the not knowing is a profound source of suffering for families, describing it as an 'open wound' that does not heal.