Gaza – The Palestinian Center for the Missing and Forcibly Disappeared has urged the international community to take immediate action to deploy technical teams and specialized equipment to help recover the bodies of thousands of victims buried under the rubble of buildings bombed by Israel in the Gaza Strip, and to assist in identifying the dead and ensuring their dignified burial.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the Center stressed the need for urgent international intervention following U.S. President Donald Trump’s call on Israel to halt its bombardment of Gaza, in preparation for the implementation of his proposed plan to end the war after Hamas announced its position on the proposal.

The Center noted that local authorities in Gaza are unable to cope with the enormous destruction and the tens of thousands of tons of debris left by year-long Israeli airstrikes, given the near-total collapse of the civil defense infrastructure and the destruction of vital search, rescue, and recovery equipment.

The human rights organization estimated that between 8,000 and 9,000 Palestinians remain missing, most of whom are believed to be trapped beneath the rubble or in areas under Israeli military control in the north, center, and south of the Strip.

It warned that these figures represent an ongoing humanitarian catastrophe that cannot be addressed without an immediate international technical mission under the supervision of the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Such efforts, the Center said, must include the deployment of heavy machinery, rescue teams, forensic experts, and DNA identification technologies.

The Center called for enabling families to bury their loved ones with dignity, in accordance with religious and humanitarian norms, and in line with the Fourth Geneva Convention and Additional Protocol I, which oblige parties to armed conflicts to take all possible measures to search for, collect, and identify the dead.

The Center further stated that Israel’s continued bombardment — even after President Trump’s request to halt the attacks in preparation for his plan to release Israeli detainees — directly obstructs humanitarian efforts to recover and identify the bodies and heightens the risk of losing more civilians still trapped under debris or in besieged areas.

It called on the international community, the United Nations, and the International Committee of the Red Cross to immediately facilitate the entry of debris removal equipment and identity verification technologies into Gaza, and to ensure an immediate ceasefire to allow safe access for both local and international rescue teams.

The statement concluded by warning that the silence of the international community in the face of this escalating disaster represents a betrayal of basic human values, leaving thousands of Palestinian families to endure the pain of double loss — their loved ones and the hope of closure.