An investigation has documented how nearly 3,000 Palestinians vanished during Israeli attacks on Gaza, leaving no recoverable remains for families or rescue teams. The findings emerge from an Al Jazeera Arabic investigation titled The Rest of the Story, drawing on field records, forensic accounts, and expert testimony.
The report recounts cases such as Yasmin Mahani, who searched the ruins of al-Tabin school in Gaza City after an Aug. 2024 strike. Her husband survived with injuries. Their son Saad left no trace. Hospitals and morgues offered no answers, deepening the family’s grief.
Gaza Civil Defence teams recorded 2,842 people as missing without bodies since Oct. 2023. A spokesperson explained a strict verification process. Teams compare the number of residents inside targeted buildings with bodies recovered. When searches yield only blood spray or small tissue fragments, the remaining victims are recorded vanished.
Experts linked these disappearances to thermal and thermobaric munitions. Such weapons generate extreme heat and pressure, exceeding 3,000 degrees Celsius. A Russian military analyst described fuel air explosions producing fireballs and vacuum effects.
The investigation identified several US manufactured munitions, including MK 84 bomb, BLU 109 bunker buster, and GBU 39 glide bomb. Civil Defence teams recovered fragments matching these weapons at sites where bodies vanished.