On the morning of 7 October 2023, as initial news of military developments along the eastern border began to break, 22-year-old Khaled Abu Hamada left his family home in the al-Bureij refugee camp to see what was taking place in the eastern area. He took nothing with him except his mobile phone.
From that morning on, all contact with Khaled ceased entirely. He vanished without a trace, leaving behind no clue or evidence to pinpoint his whereabouts.
What Khaled did not know was that his brief outing would not only lead to his own disappearance, but would ultimately claim his mother’s life as well.
To his mother, Intisar Abu Hamada, Khaled was not just another son; he was her youngest, her spoiled child, and her constant companion at home. The 62-year-old mother could never sleep while Khaled was out working, waiting untiringly for his return each night just to reassure herself before finally resting.
‘Just Tell Me if Khaled is Alive’
As air and ground strikes escalated across the Gaza Strip, the Abu Hamada family home in the camp was struck and completely destroyed. Left homeless, the family, along with his mother Intisar, was forced to seek shelter inside an UNRWA school.
Inside the school, where thousands of displaced Palestinians crowded into classrooms and courtyards, Um Khaled paid little attention to the stark realities of displacement or the severe food shortages. Her mind was entirely consumed by the absence of her youngest boy. As weeks passed without a single piece of news, her physical and psychological health went into rapid decline.
By the third month of displacement, Intisar suffered a severe physical and mental breakdown, eventually losing her memory and failing to recognize the faces of her own children and relatives gathered around her.
Yet, despite her fading consciousness, one single name continuously echoed from her lips, day and night: “Khaled.”
According to testimony provided by the Abu Hamada family to the Palestinian Centre for Missing and Forcibly Disappeared , their mother would grasp the hands of strangers and displaced people in the schoolyard, begging them:
“Quench the fire in my heart… just tell me, is Khaled alive or was he martyred?”
At night, as the camp quieted down, she would call out in a faint voice: “Are you still alive, Khaled, the light of my eyes?”
Her heart could not endure the torment for long. On 29 January 2024—exactly three months after Khaled’s disappearance—Intisar suffered a fatal heart attack inside a classroom at the shelter. She passed away without ever receiving the answer she had begged for until her final breath.
No Answers, Endless Uncertainty
The Abu Hamada family has repeatedly contacted the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and human rights organizations to file official reports regarding Khaled’s disappearance. However, responses from these institutions have been limited to collecting detailed information and a copy of his ID card, offering no evidence of his detention or details on his trajectory.
Khaled remains one of thousands of Palestinians whose traces have been lost since the start of the war on Gaza. The issue of the missing has evolved into a silent humanitarian and social crisis, leaving families suspended in agonizing uncertainty between hope and grief—a state that continues to inflict severe, sometimes fatal, health and psychological consequences on loved ones.
According to documentation by the Palestinian Centre for Missing and Forcibly Disappeared , instances where individuals vanish without confirmation of detention or the recovery of their remains fall under the grave risks associated with enforced disappearance under international law.
Under International Humanitarian Law, families hold an absolute, non-statutory right to know the fate of their missing relatives, placing a direct obligation on parties to the conflict to disclose comprehensive lists of both detainees and the deceased.
