Afghan Voice Agency (AVA) - International Service: The Palestinian Center for Missing and Enforced Disappearances has warned of the catastrophic situation in the Gaza Strip and announced that more than 8,000 people are missing under the rubble of destroyed buildings in the area. The center emphasized the need for immediate action by the international community and attributed this situation to the inability of local institutions to deal with the enormous dimensions of the destruction caused by the continuous Israeli airstrikes.
Confirming the possible existence of 8,000 to 9,000 missing persons believed to be under the rubble or in areas under the control of Israeli military forces, the Palestinian center has called on the international community to send specialized technical teams, specialized equipment for recovering bodies, and the necessary facilities to identify the martyrs to Gaza. The aim of this measure is to provide conditions for Palestinian families to bury their loved ones with human dignity and in accordance with international principles and agreements.
Noting that the ongoing Israeli bombardment has seriously hampered efforts to recover the bodies of the martyrs, the center called for an immediate cessation of airstrikes and the provision of safe passage for rescue teams. The center also called for international intervention under the auspices of the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent to provide heavy equipment, forensic experts, and DNA identification technologies.
The Palestinian center considers the silence of the international community towards this humanitarian disaster as an abandonment of fundamental human values and has announced that this indifference has left Palestinian families alone in the face of an endless calamity. The lack of effective international action has faced many challenges in the search and rescue operations and has made the process of identifying and returning the martyrs slow and difficult.