Gaza mother’s grim ordeal: A search for missing son among mutilated bodies | Israel-Palestine conflict
Gaza City, Gaza Strip – Hanaa al-Mabhuh, 56, searches the halls of al-Shifa Hospital, her eyes tearful as she navigates a gallery of photographs displaying deceased individuals. She is desperately hoping for any trace of her missing son.
Al-Mabhuh wipes her tears as she stares at the deteriorating faces on the screen. Struggling with the duality of her longing for closure and her fear that her youngest child, 18-year-old Omar, could be among those deceased, she moves between the photo display and the morgue. Omar disappeared last June while inspecting ruins at their home in Jabaliya refugee camp, alongside his cousin Alaa. As the youngest of eight siblings, he was about to take his high school exams.
“This boy is a piece of me,” she told Al Jazeera, her grief evident as she approached the morgue. “Every child is precious to his family, but my son is a part of me.”
Since October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched a deadly raid, thousands of Palestinians have been seeking information about missing relatives. In her quest for answers, Al-Mabhuh has contacted the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and various human rights organizations, but has received no information.
“We do not know whether they are prisoners, whether they were killed and their bodies taken, or if they are among the remains released in batches,” she said. “We are running like in a mirage, with no clarity.”
Following Israel’s return of Palestinian bodies to Gaza through the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing, Al-Mabhuh is one of many relatives moving between hospitals and reception points for updates on their loved ones. The latest handover occurred on February 4, where Gaza’s Health Ministry reported the receipt of 54 bodies and 66 boxes containing remains, returned by Israel via the ICRC.
These remains arrived at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, where medical and technical teams conduct initial examinations before families attempt identification. Human rights organizations indicate that these transfers adhere to international rules but often lack detailed documentation regarding the circumstances of death, complicating identification efforts amidst limited resources for DNA testing.
Al-Mabhuh has visited the hospital multiple times, even traveling to Khan Younis in southern Gaza in her search for any information. The bodies returned were part of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement that stipulated the exchange of Palestinian remains for Israeli bodies.
As of last month, Israeli authorities were holding over 770 Palestinian remains, according to the National Campaign for the Recovery of Martyrs’ Bodies and Disclosing the Fate of the Missing. Al-Mabhuh’s plight is compounded by her intermittent checks on lists of released prisoners, where she hopes to find her son’s name.
“My calls to the Red Cross have become so frequent that they recognize my voice,” she remarked, expressing her frustration. “Despite this effort, there’s still no answer about my son’s fate.”
The uncertainty weighs heavily on her and many other families enduring a similar agony. “Why do they leave us lost like this?” she asked.
Al-Mabhuh also recounted the distress of witnessing the poor condition in which bodies are returned by Israeli authorities, noting that identifying features are often unrecognizable due to decay and damage. “It’s as if they want to leave us in grief for a lifetime,” she said.
The conflict has heightened concerns around the fate of bodies held by Israel. According to the Red Cross, it has facilitated the transfer of 360 Palestinian remains since October 2023 and assisted in the return of approximately 3,472 Palestinian prisoners. However, only 99 bodies have been definitively identified.
Ahmed Abu Taha, head of bodies and missing persons files at Gaza’s Health Ministry, noted that many returned remains show signs of gunshot wounds and advanced decomposition, complicating identification. “We only conduct presumptive testing,” he explained, which lacks precision and can result in misidentification.
Al-Mabhuh called for international assistance in uncovering the fates of missing persons, highlighting the psychological toll on families like hers. “We cannot find peace amid this enormous pressure,” she said.
The forensic department in Gaza faces major challenges due to limited resources. Abu Taha emphasized the need for international intervention to facilitate the entry of identification technology into Gaza to alleviate the suffering of families and ensure proper burials.
“The issue of the bodies is not just a numerical matter,” he stated.
