The desperate search for loved ones under the rubble in Gaza: ‘My children ask me every day where daddy is’
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Bel Trew in Jerusalem and Nedal Hamdouna in Gaza speak to families searching through photographs of thousands of unidentified bodies and dozens pulled from collaps buildings to try and find out what happened to their family members during 15 months of Israel’s war inside the besieged territory.
![[Wissam’s family members, including her husband, who are missing in Gaza]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/22/19/WhatsApp-Image-2025-01-21-at-19.07.02.jpg)
In the last few days, Wissam, 40, has seen dozens of bodies pulled from the rubble in Gaza in the desperate search for her missing husband. The Palestinian mother-of-four has also trawled through 2,000 photos of unidentified corpses killed in the 15 month-war – that have been diligently documented by Gaza’s medics – in an album at her nearest main hospital.
![[Aya Aldaba, was just 13 years old when her family say she was shot dead by an Israeli sniper while getting water]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/22/19/WhatsApp-Image-2025-01-22-at-19.00.35.jpg)
Since a ceasefire in the besieged strip came into effect on Sunday, first responders and families have finally been able to access areas closed off from the fighting. There, they have clawed through the destruction to retrieve decomposed remains—some so burned, shredded, and in some instances half-chewed by wild animals—that Wissam says she only check the teeth. If they have any.
![[Mohammed Kilani, 38, was shot as he tried to deliver food to families, his body is missing]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/22/20/WhatsApp-Image-2025-01-22-at-11.22.27.jpg)
But still, she has not been able to find Yousef, 43, who disappeared almost a year ago when he went to check on his mother, Fathia, whose body is also missing. “Every day my children ask me, ‘Where is daddy? Is he dead? Is he arrested? Is he coming home?’” she says, her voice cracking with pain. “There are so many families in my position. I hope that someone can help with this disaster. Where are they?”.
Since the start of the US and Qatari brokered ceasefire between Israel and militant group Hamas ,dazed families across Gaza have made the long march through an avalanche of destruction to check on their homes, find their missing, and finally bury their dead. Civilians and medics describe finding bones and skulls under flattened houses, digging out rotting corpses from bomb sites, and stumbling upon opened graves.
