Tel Aviv / Gaza – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) calls upon the Israeli authorities to live up to their obligations under International Humanitarian Law (IHL), in clarifying the fate of the nineteen Palestinians who went missing during the 2014 conflict.

“During the past few days, we called for clarity in relation to the fate of missing Israeli nationals. Today we do the same for missing Palestinians,” said the head of the ICRC’s delegation in Israel and the occupied territories, Jacques de Maio. “Families face unbearable uncertainty. The dead must be identified and their remains returned to the families. The right to know the fate of missing relatives is a fundamental principle of humanitarian law.”

In its role as a neutral intermediary and on behalf of the families, the ICRC provided its services to support the identification of 19 bodies that the Israeli authorities publicly acknowledged in 2015 that they held. To date, however, the ICRC and families still await answers.

The ICRC has been following up on the fate of all missing Palestinians and Israeli nationals who have gone missing in connection with conflicts in Israel and the occupied territories since 1967. The ICRC remains committed to discovering the fate of all those still unaccounted for. ”