Palestine calls on the UN to clarify the fate of missing and detainees

According to the official Palestinian agency WAFA, the Permanent Representation of Palestine to the UN Geneva Office sent a letter to the UN's special procedure mechanisms yesterday on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The addressees of the letter included the "Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances", the "Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions" and the special rapporteurs on human rights, torture and extrajudicial executions in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967.

It was stated that thousands of Palestinians, including women and children, are still missing, some remain under the rubble of houses and buildings destroyed in the genocide committed by Israel in Gaza, and the bodies of others have not been found or their fate has not been determined.

The letter also emphasized that it has become difficult to determine the identities of those who lost their lives and to clarify the fate of the missing due to the destruction of civilian infrastructure and records and the disruption of rescue and forensic services.

The places where the prisoners are kept and their health conditions are kept secret.

The letter also emphasized that information about the whereabouts, health conditions and fate of Palestinians, including doctors and healthcare workers, held in Israeli prisons were kept secret.

In the letter, which also requested the fate of the Palestinians detained by Israel to be disclosed and immediately delivered to their families, a call was made to provide the necessary information and documents to determine their identities and the circumstances of their killing.

Palestine called on UN mechanisms to take action to urgently investigate the disappearances and for Israel to disclose the fate and whereabouts of all detained or missing Palestinians.

It was requested to publish an up-to-date and comprehensive record containing the identities of the prisoners, the places and dates where they were detained and held, their legal status and health information.

The letter also requested that the fate of the bodies of Palestinians detained by Israel be disclosed and immediately delivered to their families, and that the necessary information and documents be provided to determine their identities and circumstances of death.

Thousands of Palestinians remain missing in Gaza

Thousands of Palestinians disappeared during the genocide that Israel started in Gaza in October 2023. While some of the missing remained under the rubble of collapsed buildings, some were detained by the Israeli army without announcing their detention or informing human rights organizations.

The Media Office of the government in Gaza announced in October 2025 that the number of missing Palestinians in the region was approximately 9,500, that the bodies of some of them were found under the rubble, and the fate of the others was unknown.

After the ceasefire agreement came into force in October 2025, the fate of some of the missing was revealed as the bodies were removed from the rubble and some detainees were released. Some families learned that their relatives, whom they thought were dead, were alive.

In its statement this month, the Palestinian Civil Defense Directorate stated that more than 8 thousand missing people are still under the rubble, and that it may take approximately 8 years to recover the bodies with current resources.

According to WAFA, Palestinian prisoner organizations also stated that there have been thousands of detentions in Gaza since the genocide began, and that there are great difficulties in keeping records due to the ongoing military operations, the interruption of the flow of information and forced disappearances.

Approximately 9,350 Palestinians, including 350 children and 90 women, are held in Israeli prisons. Reports by Palestinian and Israeli human rights organizations state that captives were subjected to torture, starvation and medical neglect, and that dozens of them lost their lives due to these practices.