Gaza – The Palestinian Center for the Missing and Forcibly Disappeared (PCMFD) expresses deep concern over the continued disappearance of thousands of Palestinian children’s bodies beneath the rubble in Gaza. This tragedy, driven by Israel’s genocidal war, is worsened by the absence of effective international mechanisms for their search, recovery, and identification.
PCMFD monitors the daily loss of more bodies, including children, beneath the rubble of homes targeted by Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip. The ongoing blockade, which prevents the entry of heavy equipment and specialized teams, continues to worsen this humanitarian catastrophe, as more families wait to recover and bury their children with dignity.
UNICEF and the ICRC, as the UN agency for child protection and the lead body for humanitarian action in conflict, respectively, must uphold their moral and legal responsibilities by urgently leading a large-scale international operation. This should include safe access to bombing sites for body recovery, technical and logistical support to local rescue teams, documentation of missing children under the rubble, and psychological and social support for their families.
Adrian Zimmermann, Head of the ICRC’s Sub-Delegation in the Gaza Strip, stated that they have received reports of more than 14,400 missing Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank, with many cases of families still unaware of the fate or whereabouts of their loved ones. The ICRC has closed over 4,000 cases, but thousands more remain unresolved.
This statement requires urgent action to pressure Israel to disclose the fate of the remaining missing persons and resolve what has become an ongoing humanitarian tragedy. The situation constitutes a clear violation of international humanitarian law, particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention, which guarantees the right to recover and bury the dead and obligates all parties to respect human dignity, even in death.
Denying families the chance to say goodbye and bury their children amounts to collective psychological torture, further tearing at the fabric of Palestinian society already devastated by one of the most brutal genocides in modern history.
The international community’s silence and the inaction of humanitarian organizations in the face of this catastrophe amount to complicity. Immediate and responsible action is urgently needed and can no longer be delayed.
Gaza’s children should not be left to die in silence beneath the rubble, and their families must not be abandoned to linger between hope and despair.
