GENEVA - About 4,000 Palestinians, including children and the elderly and 51 Israelis are still missing since 7 October 2023, UN experts* said today, calling on authorities in both Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory to disclose the fate and whereabouts of all victims of enforced disappearance.
"Enforced disappearances can never be justified, even during a state of war, instability or public emergency," the experts said.
Twenty months of assault by the Israeli army have resulted, among others, in widespread patterns of enforced disappearances among Palestinians in Gaza and other parts of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including health and care workers, journalists, and other professionals, as well as women and children, the experts said.
"This has been facilitated through military orders and legislation allowing for indefinite detention without trial of so-called 'unlawful combatants' and others, in breach of international human rights and humanitarian law," they said.
The experts said attacks perpetrated by Palestinian armed groups on 7 October 2023 led to many Israeli civilians being killed and 251 victims taken hostage. The whereabouts of at least 51 hostages remain unknown. These acts are tantamount to enforced disappearances, they said.
"The urgent need is for an end to hostilities, unconditional freeing of all hostages, and certainty on the fate and whereabouts of all those forcibly disappeared, no matter the circumstances, whether in detention or deceased," the experts said.
Through its humanitarian procedure, the Working Group continues to register cases and see patterns of disappeared persons and victims whose fate and whereabouts are unknown, in particular with persons last seen while trying to cross from the north of Gaza to the south or vice-versa at checkpoints, from hospitals and persons arrested by officers of the Israeli Defence Forces during ground operations.
"These detentions are not properly reported to families, registration of deprivation of liberty cannot be verified, and those in custody are unable to communicate with their families or legal representatives or to seek legal review of the grounds of their detention," they said. "The pain and suffering for relatives of the disappeared can constitute a form of psychological torture and other inhumane treatment."
"In cases of death in custody, authorities must promptly, impartially, independently and thoroughly investigate to establish the cause and manner of their deaths and return the bodies of victims to their families," the experts said.
Palestinian armed groups and Israeli Defence Forces must immediately, investigate and prevent enforced disappearances and acts tantamount, the experts said, calling for prompt, independent, impartial and thorough investigation, prosecution and sanction of those responsible.
"It is concerning that the figures for Palestinians who have been forcibly disappeared and missing are hugely underreported," the experts said.
They noted that relatives of victims are often reluctant to report cases or exchange information with Israeli Government officials, for fear of reprisals or lack of trust.
"We call for the immediate and unconditional release of the remaining hostages held in Gaza as well as the immediate disclosure of the fate, whereabouts, legal status and state of health of all Palestinians who have been forcibly disappeared," the experts said. They called for their immediate release, unless they are charged with an internationally recognisable criminal offence and prosecuted in proceedings that comply with international standards.
They urged families and civil society to report enforced disappearances and acts tantamount to relevant Special Procedures, including the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances. The Working Group's primary task is to assist families in determining the fate and whereabouts of their relatives who have reportedly disappeared.
The Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances raised these concerns in a communication to the Government of Israel, which is yet to provide a response.
