‘Tell us’: Gaza family trapped between hope and pain over missing brothers

Gaza City, the Gaza Strip – For much than a year, Ashjan Abdel Aal’s beingness has been suspended betwixt grief and hope.

Two of her sons, Othman and Sami, person been missing since the greeting of June 29, 2025, erstwhile they near their displaced family’s location successful Gaza City – lone ne'er to return.

“I privation them to travel back,” the 36-year-old says done tears. “I privation a time erstwhile I tin spot them, hug them and perceive their voices.”

Ashjan remembers the past clip she saw them.

The 2 brothers – Othman, who would present beryllium 17, and Sami, 13 – said they would caput to an assistance organisation constituent adjacent the alleged Netzarim Corridor successful cardinal Gaza, promising their six-year-old sister Emarat they would bring her sweets. Ashjan besides recalls proceeding that they mightiness walk by the family’s aged location successful the Shujayea neighbourhood of eastbound Gaza City – thing they had besides done antecedently – to bring backmost a brace of shoes for her.

The Abdel Aal household is 1 of the thousands to person been forced from their homes during Israel’s genocidal warfare against Palestinians successful the Gaza Strip that has killed much than 73,340 people, according to wellness officials, and near overmuch of the besieged and bombarded territory successful ruins. Ashjan, her husband, Rafaat, and their children recovered structure astatine a relative’s location successful Gaza City successful April past year, astatine a clip erstwhile hunger, soaring prices and shortages of basal items pushed galore radical to instrumentality risks searching for food.

“People were either returning to unsafe areas oregon going to assistance organisation points due to the fact that they had nary different choice,” says Rafaat, 41.

On August 1 past year, the United Nations said astatine slightest 1,373 Palestinians had been killed portion seeking nutrient since precocious May 2025 – 859 adjacent assistance organisation sites and 514 on the routes of nutrient convoys.

On the time Othman and Sami left, Rafaat was away. He had besides headed towards United States-backed assistance organisation sites adjacent the Zikim country successful bluish Gaza.

“I was determination for a time and a half,” helium recalls. “When I returned, my woman told maine that the boys had not travel back. I became precise disquieted and started asking astir them.”

The household waited done the evening, hoping, successful vain, that they would return. On the pursuing day, Rafaat began searching hospitals, displacement shelters and among relatives, but recovered nary hint of his sons – since then, the boys’ disappearance has turned the family’s beingness into an endless hunt for answers.

The 2 missing boys, from left, Othman, present 17, and Sami, present 13, disappeared successful June past twelvemonth [Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera] (Restricted Use)

Conflicting reports

The archetypal imaginable pb came much than a period later. A nonmigratory of Shujayea told the household helium had seen 4 bodies adjacent their aged home. Two had been identified, but the different 2 had not.

Rafaat says the descriptions helium received resembled his sons, but the household could not corroborate whether the bodies were Sami and Othman.

Then, 2 days aboriginal came different achy message. A comparative shared a photograph of an unidentified assemblage astatine al-Ahli Arab Hospital, saying it looked similar Othman.

“At archetypal glance, I was profoundly shocked,” recalls Rafaat. “I said this was my lad Othman with 90 percent certainty. I went to the hospital, but erstwhile I saw the body, it was not my son.”

In October 2025, aft Israel and the Palestinian radical Hamas reached a “ceasefire” deal, Rafaat was capable to scope the country adjacent their aged location successful Shujayea. He recovered lone destruction. “There was a portion of a missile, fragments and a tiny bony remnant,” helium says.

But later, the household could nary longer entree the country since it fell down the alleged Yellow Line demarcating Israeli power wrong Gaza.

The hunt continued done the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and quality rights organisations, but nary confirmed accusation was available.

At times, Rafaat says, the uncertainty became unbearable.

“During galore moments, due to the fact that of the immense intelligence pressure, I thought astir going to the civilian registry and requesting authoritative decease certificates for them,” helium says. “But adjacent that was not imaginable due to the fact that determination were nary witnesses oregon capable grounds confirming their deaths.”

Hopes and unanswered questions

Months later, successful May, a caller portion of accusation rekindled the family’s hopes. Rafaat received a telephone telephone from his wife’s member who had been helping him pass with quality rights groups, planetary institutions and lawyers.

“He called maine and told maine that a lawyer from wrong the 1948 areas, who presented herself arsenic idiosyncratic pursuing missing persons’ cases with quality rights organisations and the Red Cross, had said that the boys were live and successful detention” successful the Israeli prisons of Ofer and Naqab, says Rafaat.

Ashjan remembers that moment. “My hubby told me, and we hugged each different and cried truthful hard,” she says. “We cried due to the fact that we thought possibly they were coming back.”

The parents and their children are surviving done terrible intelligence distress amid uncertainty and not knowing the destiny of their 2 missing sons [Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera]

The information, however, was ne'er officially confirmed. The household tried contacting the lawyer again, but received nary response. Al Jazeera besides attempted to scope the lawyer, but the telephone numbers provided by the household were not working.

“I americium similar a drowning idiosyncratic holding connected to immoderate straw,” says Ashjan. “My bosom tells maine they are alive. I spot them successful my dreams coming to maine and telling maine not to cry.”

She says earlier the boys’ disappearance, Othman, a teen connected the autism spectrum, would ever announcement erstwhile she was bittersweet earlier anyone else. “He would effort to comfortableness maine successful immoderate mode helium could,” she says. “Because of his kindness, Sami became precise attached to him. He followed him everywhere.”

Rafaat struggles to clasp backmost tears arsenic helium listens to his woman picture their sons. He says the boys had tried to assistance the household contempt his objections, going retired successful hunt of assistance successful the anticipation of bringing nutrient home.

“Since they left, I consciousness similar I americium surviving successful a rhythm that ne'er ends,” helium says. “I cannot determination forward, and I cannot halt reasoning astir what happened to them.”

Families trapped successful uncertainty

The communicative of the Abdel Aal household reflects a wider conflict faced by galore families successful Gaza who are searching for missing relatives amid the lack of confirmed accusation and the dispersed of conflicting reports.

Gaza’s Government Media Office estimates that immoderate 11,200 radical stay missing crossed the territory, including those believed to beryllium trapped nether the rubble arsenic good arsenic others whose whereabouts stay unknown.

Nada Abu Aita, manager of the Palestinian Centre for Missing and Forcibly Disappeared Persons, says 1 of the biggest challenges successful documenting cases of missing radical is what she describes arsenic the “multiplicity of sources”.

She says the centre’s enactment depends connected communicating with families, collecting details astir disappearances and documenting the circumstances surrounding each case.

But for families already surviving done war, displacement and loss, not knowing the destiny of a loved 1 creates different furniture of suffering.

“They unrecorded successful a authorities of uncertainty that prevents them from continuing their lives oregon adjacent overcoming their grief for the missing person,” says Abu Aita. “In the morning, they hunt for anticipation that they volition find them, and successful the evening, they go definite that they person died.”

She says this achy uncertainty makes families much susceptible to accusation from unofficial sources, particularly erstwhile those sources connection the anticipation of uncovering their missing relatives.

Ashjan Abdel Aal holds connected to anticipation that her 2 sons are inactive live [Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera]

The deficiency of implicit accusation from the Israeli side, adjacent for planetary groups, leaves immoderate families believing that unofficial mediators oregon lawyers whitethorn person entree to accusation that established organisations bash not.

Abu Aita says the centre has received galore reports from families contacted by radical claiming to beryllium lawyers oregon representatives of organisations who told them that their relatives were being held successful Israeli prisons.

But aft examining immoderate of these cases and checking the organisations these individuals claimed to represent, the centre recovered that immoderate of those institutions did not beryllium and that immoderate names appeared to beryllium fabricated.

“We cannot unit families to judge oregon cull this information,” says Abu Aita.

“In galore cases, families take to judge these reports, which we classify astatine the centre arsenic misleading, due to the fact that they privation to clasp connected to immoderate anticipation that could bring their lad backmost to them,” she adds, noting that the lack of broad authoritative lists of detainees makes the concern adjacent much difficult.

Open requests

Pat Griffiths, spokesperson for the ICRC successful Jerusalem, says the organisation’s enactment begins with what is known arsenic a “tracing request”.

When a household approaches the ICRC, the organisation collects its interaction details arsenic good arsenic accusation astir the missing idiosyncratic and immoderate disposable details astir the circumstances of the disappearance. This allows the organisation to stock confirmed accusation whenever it becomes available.

But Griffiths says the process is often highly difficult. “This enactment is often slow, analyzable and frustrating. Answers are not ever disposable to america to stock with families,” helium says.

One of the biggest obstacles faced by the ICRC is that it has not had entree to Israeli places of detention since the commencement of the warfare successful October 2023, contempt continued dialog with Israeli authorities to reconstruct that access.

“This means that we are not capable to corroborate to families those who are detained, similar we utilized to,” says Griffiths.

Rafaat Abdel Aal remains successful changeless interaction with quality rights organisations and the International Committee of the Red Cross to get immoderate accusation helium tin astir his 2 children [Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera]

In cases involving radical who are believed to person been killed, Griffiths says determination are large challenges related to searching for remains and identifying them done forensic methods. These difficulties, helium adds, tin hold confirmation for families for months oregon adjacent years.

“Living successful that limbo, of not knowing the destiny oregon whereabouts of a mislaid loved one, is simply a unspeakable and unsocial benignant of pain,” helium says. “We speech to truthful galore families who are going done that.”

Griffiths says the ICRC presently has “thousands of unfastened tracing requests”, but does not people a circumstantial fig of missing persons due to the fact that the fig changes regular arsenic caller cases are opened and others are closed.

When confirmed accusation becomes available, helium says, the organisation contacts the household that opened the request, whether the idiosyncratic is being held somewhere, incapable to communicate, or, successful the astir achy scenario, has died.

“At the extremity of the day, families person the close to cognize the destiny oregon whereabouts of their loved ones. Whether helping springiness them the accidental to yet mourn a loss, oregon hopefully reconnect oregon reunite with a loved one, we bash this enactment for them.”

For Rafaat, each caller portion of accusation nary longer brings comfort. Instead, it prolongs the symptom due to the fact that the household cannot verify it.

“I don’t privation to support looking forever. I privation to know,” helium says. “When a idiosyncratic has idiosyncratic missing, they cannot grieve for them, and they cannot observe their return.”

As for Ashjan, she says each she wants “is 1 definite portion of accusation astir their fate”.

With her dependable breaking, she adds: “If they are dead, archer us. If they are alive, archer us.”