Gaza Herald – The Palestinian Center for Missing and Forcibly Disappeared Civilians stated that Palestinian Children’s Day, marked annually on April 5, comes this year under unprecedented humanitarian conditions, as thousands of children in Gaza remain missing or trapped beneath the rubble of buildings destroyed by Israeli attacks, while others have disappeared under unclear circumstances.
According to available data, approximately 2,700 children are still buried under debris out of nearly 8,000 missing civilians, while more than 21,500 children have been killed over the past 29 months of ongoing genocide. In addition, around 200 children have been reported missing in different areas, raising concerns that some may have been subjected to enforced disappearance or direct targeting.
The center noted that many children went missing while attempting to access humanitarian aid or secure basic necessities such as food and firewood, reflecting the extreme dangers they face daily in an environment lacking even the most basic safety conditions.
Researchers have also documented cases in which children were detained and subsequently disappeared without any disclosure of their whereabouts, particularly in areas under Israeli military control. Testimonies from released detainees indicate that some children were subjected to serious violations during detention, while the fate of many others remains unknown.
The center stressed that leaving the bodies of thousands of children under the rubble constitutes a grave violation of human dignity and deepens the suffering of their families, who continue to endure uncertainty and distress amid the lack of adequate recovery efforts.
It called for urgent international action to open safe corridors for rescue teams, provide necessary equipment to access destroyed areas, and accelerate debris removal and body recovery. The center also urged independent international investigations into cases of enforced disappearance, accountability for those responsible, and the immediate disclosure of the fate of all missing or detained children.
