Gaza Herald – The Palestinian Center for the Missing and Forcibly Disappeared has sounded the alarm after a special Israeli unit abducted 24-year-old nurse Tasnim al-Hams from her medical post in southern Khan Younis.
The abduction comes barely two months after her father, Dr. Marwan al-Hams, director of Gaza’s field hospitals, was kidnapped under similar circumstances. He was taken despite a gunshot wound to his leg. He has since been held inside Israeli prisons, denied lawyers and adequate medical treatment.
According to the Center, the armed squad of five masked men stormed the medical point where Tasnim was on duty, seizing her in front of colleagues before forcing her into a military jeep and transporting her toward Rafah, under full Israeli army control. The Center stressed that Israel bears full responsibility for her safety and must immediately reveal her whereabouts, describing the operation as a blatant use of undercover killing squads and armed militias to enforce a campaign of abductions and forced disappearances.
The statement warned that abducting a nurse from a medical facility, a site protected under international humanitarian law, is a direct war crime. It raised fears that Tasnim may face torture, coercion, and exploitation as a tool to pressure her family, echoing the ongoing abuse of her father. On July 21, 2025, Israeli forces abducted Dr. al-Hams outside the Red Cross Hospital in Khan Younis; it was later confirmed that he is being held in a military detention site where he is tortured and interrogated.
Growing number of disappearances
The Center further highlighted mounting reports of new disappearances across Gaza. Families have lost contact with loved ones in neighborhoods under bombardment and during Israeli ground incursions. However, many were presumed buried under rubble or taken by special forces.
It demanded urgent international intervention to free both Tasnim and Dr. al-Hams, ensure their protection, and address the growing crisis of Gaza’s missing. The Center also called for the opening of safe corridors for search and rescue missions, the recovery of bodies, and immediate humanitarian relief to families enduring unbearable fear and despair under Israel’s genocidal war.
