As part of ongoing efforts to document cases of disappearance and enforced disappearance in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Center for the Missing and Forcibly Disappeared (PCMFD) documents the disappearance of citizen Khaled Salem Abu Ajwa, as one of the cases subjected to arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance by Israeli occupying forces.
According to documented data and testimonies, and pursuant to the direct authorization from the missing person’s family and their representative Ahmed Masoud, citizen Khaled Abu Ajwa (born in Gaza on December 9, 1975) a worker, married, and a resident of Al-Nasr neighborhood in Gaza City (opposite Al-Nasr Children’s Hospital, and displaced at Al-Thawra Street – Al-Yarmouk School), went missing on December 22, 2023.
Incident Details and Circumstances of Disappearance
On Friday, December 22, 2023, at approximately 1:30 p.m., Khaled left the school where he was sheltering and headed toward his home to retrieve food and cooking gas, following reports of the Israeli forces’ withdrawal from Al-Oyoun roundabout in Al-Nasr neighborhood. Upon arrival, he was surprised by the continued presence of Israeli forces in the area.
From that moment onward, all contact with Khaled was completely cut off, and his fate and whereabouts remain unknown. At the time of his disappearance, he was carrying his mobile phone, a sum of money, and wearing a wedding ring. Later, testimonies from released detainees indicated that his name was heard in detention facilities, though no precise or confirmed date or location of his detention is available.
Search Efforts, Follow-up, and Actions Taken
Following the incident, the family promptly took all available measures to trace him; they contacted the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which stated that no information was available. They subsequently contacted HaMoked: Center for the Defence of the Individual and Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, both of which similarly confirmed that no information was available regarding his case.
Pursuant to the legal authorization provided by the family, the Palestinian Center for the Missing and Forcibly Disappeared submitted an official and urgent communication to the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) on February 19, 2026, demanding immediate intervention to pressure the occupation authorities to disclose his fate.
Urgent Human Rights Appeal
The continued enforced disappearance of citizen Khaled Abu Ajwa reflects the escalating human rights violations against civilians in the Gaza Strip, necessitating immediate action by the international community and UN human rights bodies to compel the occupation authorities to disclose his detention place and provide legal protection for him and his family.
