As part of ongoing efforts to document cases of loss and enforced disappearance in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Center for Missing and Enforced Disappeared Persons (PCMFD) documents the disappearance of citizen Yahya Essam Sadiq, considering it one of the cases suspected of being subjected to arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance by Israeli forces.
According to documented data, testimonies, and direct authorization from the missing person’s family, Yahya Sadiq (born in Khan Younis on June 10, 1996, unemployed, married, residing in Khan Younis – Jalal Street, and displaced in Hamad City in Khan Younis) went missing on March 5, 2024.
Details of the Incident and Circumstances of the Disappearance
On Monday, March 5, 2024, at approximately 8:00 AM, Israeli forces conducted a ground incursion and besieged Hamad City in Khan Younis. As a result of the evacuation orders issued by the Israeli army for residential homes, Yahya and his family began fleeing the area. While en route, Yahya returned home to retrieve his identification document after hearing reports of military checkpoints in the area. At that point, contact with his family was lost, and he has not been seen since, noting that a large number of civilians were detained by Israeli forces in the area on the same day. Later, his wallet and house keys were recovered in August 2024 after the house was completely burned down.
Search Efforts, Follow-Up, and Action Taken
Following the incident, the family moved quickly to take available measures to trace his whereabouts; they contacted Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, which reported no available information regarding his status. They subsequently contacted HaMoked, which indicated that there was no indication of his detention and that Israeli authorities claimed to have no information about him. The family also approached the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, which likewise confirmed that no information was available.
Based on the legal authorization provided by the family, the PCMFD submitted an urgent official appeal to the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, demanding urgent intervention to pressure the occupation authorities to disclose his fate.
The disappearance of Yahya Sadiq exemplifies the systematic policy of enforced disappearance against civilians in the Gaza Strip, demanding firm international action to reveal the truth and end the family’s suffering.
