'Every day my children ask where's Daddy? Is he dead?"

Bel Trew in Jerusalem and Nedal Hamdouna in Gaza speak to those desperately searching for loved ones under the rubble

- Bel Trew and Nedal Hamdouna

In the past 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 – which have been diligently documented by Gaza’s medics – in an album at her nearest main hospital.

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 halfchewed by wild animals that Wissam says she only checks the teeth. If they have any.

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.

Wissam and her family fled their home in Khan Younis to the socalled al-Mawasi humanitarian zone in late 2023. Youssef vanished last March when he went back to Khan Younis to check on his mother who was sheltering there with extended members of his family.