Gazan civilians held in isolation by Israel not told families had been killed

Joy turns to despair for detainees freed in the ceasefire as they return home to learn children and relatives are dead.

- By Malak A Tantesh, Emma Graham-Harrison and Bethan McKernan

For six months after it became impossible, Ahmed Wael Dababish still dreamed of a simple reunion: the day he could once again hug his wife, Asma, his two daughters and his young son.

A nurse from Gaza, Dababish last saw his family in the early hours of one night in December 2023, when Israeli troops attacked a school where they had sought shelter.

Soldiers ordered men into the courtyard, then detained many of them, including Dababish. He was held incommunicado for 13 months without charge, trial, access to a lawyer, or any communication with his family. So when an Israeli shell killed Asma, 29, and their youngest daughter, three-year-old Ghina, in August 2024, there was no way to send news to him.

He was released in February under the ceasefire deal after turning 33 in prison, and was briefly overwhelmed when he saw his father and cousins waiting to welcome him home. "It was amazing to see someone I knew," he said. The joy at being surrounded by familiar, beloved faces, after a year of hunger, torture and isolation from everyone he knew, lasted until he asked about his wife and children.

Dababish's father called up a photo on his phone to help break the unbearable news. It showed Ghina, his baby, laid out for burial beside her young cousin. "This is the moment I still cannot believe," Dababish said, breaking down again at the memory. "It never crossed my mind that they could be killed."

As he sobbed, his two surviving children, six-year-old Muadh and eight-year-old Aisha, tried to comfort him with hugs.

His tragedy is not unique. The Observer spoke to three Palestinians from Gaza whose immediate family were killed while they were held by the Israeli military or in Israeli civilian prisons without charge or trial. They only learned about their losses when they were released months later.