Rising Child Disappearances in Gaza Continue Amid Post-War Chaos
Media sources report that the phenomenon of child disappearances in the Gaza Strip persists in the aftermath of the war, with dozens of children mysteriously vanishing each month. According to estimates by the Palestinian Missing Persons Center, in addition to approximately 2,700 children whose bodies remain trapped under the rubble of destroyed homes, nearly 200 more children are believed to have disappeared in connection with the ongoing wartime conditions.
These cases mostly occur in displaced persons camps, particularly near humanitarian aid distribution points or close to Israeli occupation forces. Reports indicate that some of these children disappeared after approaching the Netsarim axis in northern Gaza, where there is a possibility they were shot or detained.
The severity of this situation has drawn attention even from the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, which has published accounts from families of the missing children. One such case is that of four-year-old Mohammed Ghben, who vanished three weeks ago in the Beit Lahia area in northern Gaza. He disappeared right in front of his family’s tent.
Mohammed’s mother told Jordan’s Roya TV that after playing with his brothers, he entered the tent, briefly hugged her, then went outside again; just ten minutes later, he was nowhere to be found. His family has yet to receive any information regarding his whereabouts.
Another case involves 10-year-old Samer Abu Jamaa, who suffered severe psychological trauma after witnessing scenes of massacre during the war. According to his mother, Samer left the family’s tent near Rafah on March 8; this area is about a two-hour walk from the “Yellow Line.” Since then, there has been no news of him.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has stated that it is dealing with thousands of requests seeking clarification about the fate of missing persons in Gaza, including both children and adults. The organization emphasized that its activities have been limited since October 7, and that Israel has obstructed its access to detainees as well as information regarding their identities in prisons. This obstruction has seriously hindered efforts to trace the fate of the missing children.
