As part of its ongoing efforts to document cases of disappearance and enforced disappearance in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Center for Missing and Forcibly Disappeared (PCMFD) documents the case of citizen Mohammad Hamada Shheiber, as one of the cases carrying strong indicators of enforced disappearance and direct targeting amid field military operations and massacres that targeted civilians while attempting to obtain humanitarian aid.
According to the information and testimony documented by the Center, and based on authorization granted by the family, Mohammad Shheiber—who was 32 years old at the time of the incident (born July 10, 1991), a resident of the Al-Sabra neighborhood in Gaza City (residing at the time of the incident in Al-Nafaq Street, Al-Daraj neighborhood)—went missing in the early hours of Thursday, February 29, 2024.
According to available documentation, Mohammad left his residence at 01:00 AM heading to Al-Rasheed Street in the Al-Nabulsi area to await humanitarian aid trucks to secure flour. Following his arrival, Israeli forces conducted a military incursion into the area accompanied by heavy shelling and indiscriminate gunfire, resulting in a massacre against those present. At 05:00 AM, his wife managed to call his mobile phone; individuals speaking in Hebrew were heard in the background before an unknown person answered, informing her that the phone had been found and could be retrieved from Al-Shifa Hospital. Since that moment, all communication with him has been completely lost.
Indicators of Enforced Disappearance
The seizure of Mohammad Shheiber’s phone and the response to it in Hebrew in an area that witnessed a military incursion and direct targeting of civilians—coupled with the complete refusal to reveal his fate or disclose his whereabouts—places this case clearly within the scope of suspected state-sponsored enforced disappearance by the occupation authorities. This secrecy is a continuation of flagrant violations of international humanitarian law and the Fourth Geneva Convention, which mandates the protection of civilians during times of conflict and guarantees the non-prescriptible right of families to know the fate of their loved ones.
Search and Follow-up Efforts
Following his disappearance, Mohammad’s family took all available avenues to search for him. They contacted the human rights organization “HaMoked,” which confirmed that no information about him was available in declared detention centers. Contact was also made with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) without receiving any response clarifying his fate.
In follow-up to the case and based on the family’s authorization, the Palestinian Center for Missing and Forcibly Disappeared (PCMFD) officially documented the case and submitted a complaint to the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) in Geneva, demanding that the international community and UN mechanisms pressure the occupation authorities to investigate the circumstances of his disappearance, immediately disclose his fate, and end the state of denial regarding his status.
Unknown Fate To this day, the fate of Mohammad Hamada Shheiber remains officially unknown. His family and the Center urgently appeal to all human rights organizations and international bodies to intervene immediately to disclose his whereabouts and ensure his legal and humanitarian protection. This case exemplifies the ongoing suffering of Palestinian families amidst the direct targeting of civilians waiting for aid, necessitating serious international action to compel parties to the conflict to reveal the whereabouts of missing and detained persons and restore the right to know their fate.
