GENEVA – The Palestinian Center for the Missing and Forcibly Disappeared has called on the UN Human Rights Council for urgent intervention to reveal the fate of hundreds of Palestinian children who have gone missing during military operations in the Gaza Strip.
This appeal was made in a speech delivered by Ahmed Masoud, Head of the Center’s Legal Unit, during the 61st session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva on March 9. The address focused on the grave violations committed against minors amidst the ongoing conflict.
The Center emphasized that the tragedy of the missing in Gaza has taken on complex dimensions. Legal teams have documented hundreds of cases of children trapped under the rubble of destroyed homes. The speech highlighted that Israeli authorities have blocked the entry of heavy machinery and rescue teams required to clear debris and recover remains. This has effectively turned demolished residential blocks into unmarked mass graves, depriving families of their right to bury their children and know their ultimate fate.
The statement further detailed instances of enforced disappearance involving children who were either detained or lost while attempting to access humanitarian aid or return to their homes in areas of military operations.
It explained that the policy of “starvation” and the restriction of aid have forced children to risk heading toward contact zones in search of food. Dozens were documented disappearing immediately after being surrounded by the Israeli army, with no information provided regarding their locations of detention or health status.
Since October 2023, the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip has resulted in the killing of more than 21,000 children. Meanwhile, the fate of thousands more remains uncertain—either buried under the rubble or held in secret detention centers where Israel refuses to disclose any data regarding the minors in its custody.
The Center concluded its address by calling on the Member States of the Human Rights Council to exert immediate pressure on Israel to release forcibly disappeared children and allow the urgent entry of heavy equipment needed for recovery efforts. It asserted that deliberately keeping the fate of these children unknown constitutes a flagrant violation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and International Humanitarian Law, necessitating international action to protect the dignity of the victims and their families’ right to know.
