Gaza family lives in agonising limbo as two sons remain missing

For more than a year, every day has begun with hope and ended in heartbreak for Ashjan and Rafaat Abdel Aal, whose two sons disappeared in Gaza without a trace, leaving the family trapped between grief and uncertainty.

Othman, now believed to be 17, and his younger brother Sami, 13, vanished on June 29, 2025, after leaving their family's temporary shelter in Gaza City to search for food at an aid distribution point. They promised to return with sweets for their younger sister. They never came home.

Since then, the Abdel Aal family has lived in what aid workers describe as one of war's cruellest burdens: not knowing whether loved ones are alive or dead.

"I want them to come back," their mother, Ashjan, told Al Jazeera. "I want a day when I can see them, hug them and hear their voices."

Like thousands of Palestinians displaced by the war in Gaza, the family had been forced from their home and was sheltering with relatives. Amid severe food shortages, many civilians risked travelling to aid distribution sites or returning to dangerous neighbourhoods in search of basic necessities.

When the boys failed to return, their father, Rafaat, launched a desperate search, visiting hospitals, displacement shelters and relatives across Gaza. The search has continued ever since.

Over the past year, the family has been confronted with a series of painful leads that ultimately brought no answers. Reports of unidentified bodies near their former neighbourhood, photographs from hospitals and fragments found in destroyed areas all raised fears that the boys had been killed, but none provided confirmation.

Months later, another claim briefly revived their hopes when they were told by an intermediary that the boys were allegedly alive in Israeli detention. The information, however, was never officially confirmed, and subsequent attempts to contact the source were unsuccessful.

"I am like a drowning person holding on to any straw," Ashjan told Al Jazeera. "My heart tells me they are alive."

The emotional toll has been especially severe because the family remains unable to mourn or move forward.

"Since they left, I feel like I am living in a cycle that never ends," Rafaat said. "I cannot move forward, and I cannot stop thinking about what happened to them."

Their story reflects the wider plight of thousands of families across Gaza still searching for missing relatives.

According to Gaza's Government Media Office, more than 11,000 people remain unaccounted for, including those believed to be buried beneath rubble and others whose whereabouts are unknown.

Humanitarian organisations say families often receive conflicting or unverified information, leaving them vulnerable to false hope. The uncertainty has been compounded by the limited ability of international agencies to verify the whereabouts of missing people.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says it continues to receive thousands of tracing requests from families seeking information about missing relatives. However, the organisation says it has not had access to Israeli places of detention since the war began in October 2023, preventing it from confirming whether individuals are being held there.

ICRC spokesperson Pat Griffiths described the uncertainty as "a terrible and unique kind of pain", saying families have a fundamental right to know the fate of their loved ones.

For the Abdel Aals, every rumour brings another emotional rollercoaster.

"I don't want to keep looking forever. I want to know," Rafaat told Al Jazeera.

His wife expressed the family's simple plea.

"If they are dead, tell us," Ashjan said. "If they are alive, tell us."