GAZA, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- Dozens of Palestinians held a protest in Gaza City on Sunday to demand information about the fate of people who have been missing since the outbreak of the conflict between Hamas and Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
The protest, organized by the Palestinian NGO Network outside the International Committee of the Red Cross headquarters in western Gaza City, coincided with the International Day of the Disappeared on Aug. 30.
Participants held photos of missing people and banners reading, "The Missing: Stories Awaiting the Truth."
Mohammed Saleh, director of the network, said the issue of missing persons was "not merely a matter of statistics," but involved the names, dreams and stories of families seeking truth and justice.
Speaking at the protest, Saleh said the network had documented more than 11,200 registered missing persons, adding the actual number was believed to be higher.
He called for the establishment of an independent and transparent mechanism to search for missing persons, a unified national database, and greater support for forensic medicine and specialized laboratories to identify human remains.
Separately, Palestinian groups on Sunday condemned Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's visit to the women's section of Damon Prison, during which he filmed female Palestinian prisoners and posted a video of the visit on his X account.
The Palestinian Prisoners' Club, a non-governmental organization, said in a statement that Ben-Gvir's visit and filming of prisoners reflect a systematic policy of targeting Palestinian detainees and exploiting their suffering for political propaganda.
In the 1-minute-44-second video, an unidentified Palestinian female prisoner described detention conditions, saying they had gone three days without showers, lacked medical treatment, and wore unclean clothes.
Ben-Gvir responded through a translator, saying, "The good conditions that used to exist in the prisons are over."
The Islamic Jihad Movement said in a statement that the Israeli government bore full responsibility for the safety of the female prisoners, urging international institutions to act to end violations against them.
Hamas, in a separate statement, warned against turning prisons into arenas for "violations, humiliation, threats, torture, and murder," and called for effective action to support Palestinian prisoners. ■
