7,<> missing in Gaza. A truce to know their fate

Highlights: Palestinian woman Aya Sammour, 67, who she says is disabled, went missing in Gaza City after the Israeli army invaded the Beach camp two weeks ago. People told Aya that they had seen her father's body dumped near the displacement corridor between the southern and northern Gaza Strip. "We do not know any information about my father, whether he is alive, dead or injured," Aya says. "I want to know if my family is alive or not," says Nevin Duwaima, who lost contact with her husband and his family 23 days ago.

A difficult and bitter reality experienced by the families of the missing in Gaza, between the possibility of them being under rubble, decomposing bodies in the streets, or in detention by the Israeli occupation forces.

Aya Sammour and her mother Siham receive a lot of conflicting news about her father's fate from the moment he went missing (Al Jazeera)

GAZA – In search of her father, who has been missing for 13 days, Palestinian woman Aya Sammour, 67, who she says is disabled, went missing in Gaza City after the Israeli army invaded the Beach camp two weeks ago.

Three days ago, people told Aya that they had seen her father's body dumped near the displacement corridor between the southern and northern Gaza Strip. The accounts she hears add to the uncertainty about her father's fate.

She tells Al Jazeera Net, "Some people told us that they saw him 13 days ago near Shifa Hospital (west of Gaza), and others told us that the occupation soldiers in their tanks shot at the car he was riding, but others said they shot near him and not him."

Disabled Ibrahim Sammour lost his traces in the Beach refugee camp following the Israeli army invasion about two weeks ago (Al Jazeera)

Complaint without information

Aya currently lives with her mother in the central Gaza Strip, having been displaced with her family. "We do not know any information about my father, whether he is alive, dead or injured, we do not know anything, his name is not on the lists of martyrs or wounded in hospitals," she adds, noting that her father is crippled, and suffers from heart disease, diabetes and blood pressure.

And intervene her mother Siham Sammour talk, saying that she filed a complaint to the International Committee of the Red Cross after 3 days of losing her husband, to no avail, and adds to the island net "13 days ago I did not get any information about my husband, they told us perhaps sheltered hospital healing, but was evacuated all the living and dead from the hospital."

Missing families

The suffering of the people is not limited to the level of losing people, but extends to the loss of entire families, and in this regard, the young man Abdul Nour Al-Efrangi, who is currently in Turkey, says that he does not know the fate of his family in Gaza, except for his father, whose martyrdom was confirmed.

He says Al-Efrangi to Al Jazeera Net "On November 10 / November, cut my family Street martyrs, next to the "Market Metro" famous, tanks shot them, which led to the martyrdom of my father, whose body is still lying in the street until now and injured my mother and sister. "

Since then, al-Efrangi has known the fate of the rest of his 11 people, including his mother and four of his brothers, adding, "I want to know if my family is alive or not."

As for Nevin Duwaima, she lost contact with her husband and his family 23 days ago, and tells Al Jazeera Net that she does not have any information about her husband and his family (Abu Mazen Ashour's family), who went missing in the neighborhood of Sheikh Ajleen, southwest of Gaza City.

She stated that her husband's brothers have special needs and need to take medicines daily, adding, "Some people said that Israeli tanks were close to the area, and there were martyrs in the nearby streets."

An ambulance man helps the families of missing people search for the bodies of their relatives at Shuhada Al-Aqsa Hospital in the central Gaza Strip (Al-Jazeera)

More than 7,<> missing

The above testimonies are simple examples of the suffering of thousands of Palestinian families regarding the loss of their children, as a result of the horrific war that Israel has waged since the seventh of last October on the Gaza Strip.

The government media office in the Gaza Strip says that the number of missing as a result of the war is not less than 7,<> people, distributed among people and families who are still under the rubble of houses demolished by the occupation army on the heads of their inhabitants, and individuals who were killed in the streets in cold blood and their bodies are still lying in them, and others kidnapped by the army in the corridor it allocated for the displacement of residents between the north and south of the Strip.

Role of the Red Cross

Hisham Muhanna, spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Gaza, said they receive numerous calls from parents reporting the loss or arrest of their children.

On the mechanism of action of the Red Cross regarding these cases, says Muhanna to Al Jazeera Net, "We share with callers the mechanism of work of the International Committee of the Red Cross, which is to try to send this information about the missing to the Israeli authorities, and try to obtain information about their fate." "If we receive information about their fate from the Israeli side, we share it only with the residents, not publicly."

In response to a question about the extent of the Israeli occupation's cooperation with them on this issue, Muhanna replied, "I cannot disclose any information about this file, but what we can say is that we are working hard to obtain information about the fate of those who have been arrested, and any information we receive from the Israeli army that we share with the families of the detainees."

Regarding the number of inquiries received by the ICRC about the missing, Muhanna said, "We do not have statistics that we can share through the media, this file is sensitive, and because the mechanism of work of the Red Cross is known, which is to try to discuss with the detention authorities to maintain the principle of gaining trust, which actually qualifies us to transfer information to the families of the missing."

Harsh psychological and social impacts

The social and psychological specialist Dr. Aroub sentence, that the suffering of the families of the missing "very harsh", and says to the island net "is not easy nor easy never on the family, passing uncertainty regarding the fate of her son, the mind may not be able to absorb it, psychological effects difficult, and include a sense of high tension, and oppression."

She stated that "Muslims and believers in God's decree and destiny, have a higher ability than others to bear the horror of this tragedy," but adds, "Despite the certainty and satisfaction with God's judgment, the intensity of tension may cause a state of loss of nerve control, a huge amount of negative thoughts and a sense of helplessness."

She warned that the suffering of the families of the missing may increase after the end of the war, as they enter what is known as "post-traumatic stress" syndrome, which is a situation more difficult than the stress itself.

She called on the local community, families surrounding the families of the missing and specialized institutions to provide them with psychological support service. "They must be followed up socially and psychologically actively and deeply, and programmes must be found to protect them from the difficult effects they will face later," she added.

Source : Al Jazeera