Families in Gaza still searching for the missing amid the rubble

In Gaza, thousands of families continue to search for loved ones missing in one of the most destructive wars in decades. Many have vanished under the ruins of bombed homes, while others may be held without contact in Israeli detention.

Authorities say at least 6,000 people are still believed to be buried beneath the rubble — but the real number could be much higher, as entire families have perished with no one left to report the missing.

For families like Fadwa al-Ghalban’s, hope and heartbreak go hand in hand. Her 27-year-old son Mosaab disappeared after going to check on their bombed home in the southern town of Maan.

Fadwa al-Ghalban, mother of missing Palestinian man: "I keep imagining him coming. I imagine him walking toward me in the tent. I say he is not dead. It is hard... He only went to see the house. To see if it is bombed or not, he walked two steps, and the Israelis hit him. What did he do to them? He did nothing. He went to see his bombed house. God is my agent. There is a fire in my heart."

In northern Gaza, Khalid Nassar has been searching for his two missing children since their homes were destroyed in separate airstrikes on Jabaliya camp.

Khalid Nassar, father of missing Palestinian son and daughter: "I performed the absentee prayer for my daughter and son. I have a daughter missing also, don't forget. An anguish takes hold when their son and daughter are buried here, and you can't get them. There are many people like us in Gaza. Many homes were bombed over their residents, and no one could get them out."

For others, the waiting never ends. Mohammad al-Najjar, whose 23-year-old son Ahmad vanished during an air raid nearly two years ago, says he and his wife still can’t sleep.

Mohammad al-Najjar, father of missing Palestinian man: "When I go home at night, I remember him. I start watching videos of him and look at his photos. His mother keeps talking to him at night and calls him. She gets no sleep, not a night and not during the day. Me neither. I remember my son all the time."

According to the International Commission on Missing Persons, finding and identifying the missing will require advanced DNA testing — a process hampered by Israel’s restrictions on equipment entering Gaza.

For now, families continue to dig through the ruins by hand, clinging to faith that even a trace — a ring, a bone, or a final word — might bring some closure to their endless search.