people missing in the Gaza Strip since October 2023
Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, 31 Dec 2025; Independent Commission for Human Rights, 20251,2
The situation
More than 10,000 people in Gaza are missing. Their families still do not know what happened to them
Since October 2023, more than 10,000 people in the Gaza Strip have gone missing.1,2 Most are believed to lie beneath the rubble of destroyed homes. Others were separated from their families during displacement, are presumed detained, or were buried without being identified. Nearly half of the documented cases are women and children.4
Recovery is slow. Most remains have been recovered by hand, because the heavy machinery and forensic equipment needed are not available in sufficient quantity.3
The figures in proportion
~35%
of the Gaza Strip is the area left to its population of about 2.1 million people~65% under access restrictions
OCHA, 2 Oct 20265
These figures come from different sources, compiled with different methods. They are not one consolidated count. Establishing an authoritative national figure, through the National Reference Register, is one of the first tasks of the National Team.
Who is missing
Under the rubble
People believed buried in destroyed buildings
Separated in displacement
People lost during evacuation and repeated movement
Presumed detained
People whose families believe they were taken and have no information
Buried unidentified
Remains buried in temporary or unmarked graves without identification
Forcibly disappeared
People whose fate and whereabouts are concealed
Families live with ambiguous loss. Without confirmation of death they also face legal uncertainty over guardianship, inheritance, marital status and property, alongside economic hardship.
From report to return
How a missing person is searched for and identified
- 01
Report
A family reports a missing relative
- 02
Registration
The case is entered in the National Reference Register
- 03
Family information
Families give a description, records and, where needed, reference DNA samples
- 04
Site assessment and protection
Possible locations are identified and protected
- 05
Recovery
Remains are recovered with care and documented
- 06
Forensic examination
Examination by forensic specialists
- 07
Identification
Findings are matched against the register and family information
- 08
Return to the family
The family is informed and remains are returned for dignified burial
Timeline
Key dates
Mass displacement in Gaza; reports of missing persons rise sharply
Civil Defence teams begin large-scale recovery from beneath destroyed buildings
Council of Ministers establishes the National Team
Concept Note sets out the Team's operational framework and six subcommittees; Memorandum of Understanding signed with the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus
Third plenary meeting with international partners; technical committee with UNDP and OHCHR on forensics and the national database
For families
If someone in your family is missing
If someone in your family is missing
- Keep any photographs, identity documents, medical and dental records, and descriptions of clothing and personal effects
- Note when and where your relative was last seen, and who was with them
- Report the case through the official national channel, so it is recorded once in the National Register
- If asked, give a reference sample: it will be used only to identify your relative
Register a missing person from Gaza
Help us document the missing. Every report is recorded once, in the National Reference Register.
Register a missing personInternational cooperation
Working with partners
The Team works with international organisations and with national search mechanisms in other countries to draw on proven practice. It has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus. Its methodology also draws on the experience of national search mechanisms in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia and Kosovo, and follows ICRC guidance on the dignified handling of the dead. Partner support is organised around the six subcommittees and channelled through the National Team.
ICRCOHCHRUNDPUNICEFUN WomenEuropean UnionSwitzerlandICMPICTJCommittee on Missing Persons in Cyprus
What is needed now
The national database
One register for every category of missing person
Forensic capacity
Identification centres, refrigeration and equipment in Gaza
DNA collection
Reference samples from families, and entry of DNA kits
Site protection
Protecting sites before clearance and reconstruction
Family support
Psychosocial support and legal assistance
Sources
- Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Statistical Evidence of Humanitarian and Demographic Catastrophe, press release, 31 December 2025 (“nearly 11,000 individuals remain missing”). pcbs.gov.ps
- Independent Commission for Human Rights, المفقودون والمختفون قسراً في قطاع غزة منذ السابع من أكتوبر 2023 (The Missing and Forcibly Disappeared in the Gaza Strip since 7 October 2023), Special Report Series No. 130, Ramallah, 2025, p. 13 (“no fewer than 10,000 missing”). ichr.ps
- Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, statement of the High Commissioner, Geneva, 15 September 2026, citing Palestinian Civil Defence data. un.org
- Al-Dameer Association for Human Rights, report on missing persons in the Gaza Strip, 3 June 2026. aldameer.org
- UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Humanitarian Situation Report, 2 October 2026. ochaopt.org
- UN Environment Programme, press release on environmental damage in the Gaza Strip, 23 September 2025. unep.org
- CBC News, visual investigation, September 2026. cbc.ca
- Associated Press, February 2026. apnews via abcnews.com
- Al Jazeera, 29 January 2026. aljazeera.com
- International Committee of the Red Cross, “Gaza: Thousands of families suffer in uncertainty while their loved ones remain missing”, 30 August 2026. icrc.org
- Reuters, 15 September 2026, reporting the Head of the UN Human Rights Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. via businessday.co.za
- Al Jazeera, 6 November 2025. aljazeera.com
- International Committee of the Red Cross, “Our work in Israel and the Occupied Territories: January to June 2026”, September 2026. icrc.org
- The Christian Science Monitor, 18 December 2025. csmonitor.com
- United Nations, UNifeed, “Gaza / Missing Persons”, 26 June 2025. media.un.org
- Council of Ministers Decision No. 19/95/01 of 27 January 2026.