"With exhausted steps and eyes filled with tears, Hanaa al-Mabhuh moves between the hall displaying photographs of bodies and the morgue at al-Shifa Hospital in a grim search for any trace of her missing son. The 56-year-old mother wipes away tears with the back of her hand and stares at the decomposed faces on the screen, torn between the desire to find out what happened to her youngest child, while at the same time fearing he might be among the dead handed over by Israel under a US-brokered ceasefire deal."
"We do not know whether they are prisoners, or whether they [the Israelis] killed them and took their bodies or detained their bodies along with those bodies they release in batches. We are running as if in a mirage and we do not know anything," says Hanaa, falling silent as if trying to catch her breath."
Hanaa al-Mabhuh moves between a hall of body photographs and the morgue at al-Shifa Hospital, searching for her missing son. She stares at decomposed faces on screens while fearing he may be among bodies returned by Israel under a US-brokered ceasefire. Thousands of Palestinians from Gaza have been seeking information on loved ones missing since the October 7, 2023 raid by Hamas. Hanaa's 18-year-old son Omar disappeared with a cousin last June while inspecting the ruins of their home in Jabaliya refugee camp. The family contacted the ICRC and several human rights organisations without success and remain uncertain whether missing relatives are prisoners, killed, or had bodies held.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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