Nearly Three Years of Absence: Parents Search for Their Sons in Gaza

Since the temporary ceasefire in November 2023, Najwa Khalil and her husband Zaki Barakat have been searching for their sons Youssef (27) and Hassan (25), who disappeared in the Al-Tawam area north of Gaza. The family says Israeli soldiers took them and demands the Red Cross and international institutions reveal their fate, amid the suffering of thousands of missing families.

Since the start of the temporary ceasefire on November 24, 2023, Najwa Khalil and her husband Zaki Barakat (57) have lived on hope for the return of their sons Youssef (27) and Hassan (25), who disappeared while heading to inspect their home in the Al-Tawam area north of the Gaza Strip. The mother recounts that the withdrawal of occupation forces from the area prompted the family to return home, but they were surprised by soldiers in the street, and the two sons became separated from the rest of the family. Witnesses say soldiers took two young men wearing underwear, and since then their news has ceased. The family contacted the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Commission for Prisoners and Released Affairs, and the Prisoners Club, but without obtaining confirmed information. Some released prisoners said they heard their names, but there is no official confirmation. Father Zaki expresses the family's suffering in waiting to know their fate, and they send a message to international institutions to pressure for revealing the fate of the missing. The article highlights the suffering of thousands of families in Gaza waiting to know the fate of their loved ones.