"After searching morgues and opening a mourning tent, a Palestinian family receives a phone call confirming their son is being held in Ofer Prison. For 18 months, the family of Eid Nael Abu Shaar, a Palestinian man from Gaza, believed this eldest son was dead. They had scoured Gaza for his body, obtained a death certificate and erected a tent to mourn his loss, but then an unexpected phone call from a lawyer confirmed he was alive and being held in Israel's Ofer Prison."
"It ended an agonising year-and-a-half search for Eid, but the revelation highlights the devastating plight of thousands of other families in the Gaza Strip who still await news about their missing relatives. Their fates remain unclear with families not knowing if their loved ones lie under rubble, are buried in unidentified mass graves or are being held in Israeli detention centres, such as Ofer, where torture is commonplace and Palestinians face indefinite internment."
"Eid went missing on December 15, 2024, while looking for work to support his family close to central Gaza's Netzarim Corridor, also known as the Axis of Death. Israel carved out and occupied this strip of land that separated northern Gaza from the south and became a place where hundreds of Palestinians, including children, were killed or went missing."
"I slept at the doors of the morgues and hospitals, he told Al Jazeera. Whenever they announced an unidentified body or a martyr, I would run day and night. I searched Al-Aqsa, al-Awda and Nuseirat hospitals. I would open the morgue refrigerators with my own hands, looking for any trace of him or his clothes but found nothing."
A Palestinian family from Gaza searched for their eldest son, Eid Nael Abu Shaar, after he went missing on December 15, 2024 while looking for work near the Netzarim Corridor. For 18 months, the family believed he was dead, scouring Gaza for his body, obtaining a death certificate, and erecting a mourning tent. They later received a phone call from a lawyer confirming he was being held in Israel’s Ofer Prison. The family had previously searched morgues and hospitals, opened morgue refrigerators, and contacted the International Committee of the Red Cross and human rights groups without success. The case reflects the ongoing uncertainty faced by many families who do not know whether relatives are dead under rubble, buried in unidentified mass graves, or detained, where torture and indefinite internment are reported.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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