In April 2024, a 16-year-old boy named Hassan Al-Qatta rode his bicycle out of his neighborhood in Gaza and never came back. He is not confirmed dead. He is not confirmed alive. He has simply disappeared. Hassan is one of an estimated 9,000 to 15,000 people missing in Gaza. 

His disappearance, and the agony of his parents, sits at the center of a new investigation by Gazan journalist Mahmoud Mushtaha, produced by the Palestine Reporting Lab in partnership with WIRED and published in Arabic on Raseef22.  

Hassan’s story –– and the unimaginable suffering of his parents, Abeer Skaik and Ali Al-Qatta –– haunted me for days after I read the investigation. It is among of the most horrifying accounts I have encountered, even with the relentless  tragedy that has defined our reporting on Gaza over the past  two and a half years. Maybe it’s because Hassan is a boy on the autism spectrum who loves order and routine, while nothing in Gaza since October 2023 has been orderly. iEverything in his life was upended, his daily rhythms completely disrupted. Or maybe it’s because, as a mother, the mere idea of losing a child is already unbearable — but not knowing their fate is something I can hardly begin to comprehend.

My conversation with Mahmoud for the latest episode of the +972 Podcast was painful on many levels. It is also one that needs to be heard.

Mahmoud was born and raised in Gaza. He  left two years ago to escape the genocide and pursue an old dream of studying media and communications in the UK. He completed his graduate degree a few months ago and remains in London, but throughout our conversation it was clear that, emotionally, he is still in Gaza. Two years ago, in an op-ed for us, he wrote: “Physically, I have survived. But emotionally, I am still trapped in the war.” That  seems to still be the case.

Even discussing the motivation behind this investigation was painful for him.. The impulse to pursue a story with so few sources of information is personal. Mahmoud has buried human remains without knowing whose they were. That experience, along with the many stories of the missing he heard, pushed him to take on this project with the Palestine Reporting Lab. 

Equally painful is his ongoing  relationship with the families of the missing. Many of those he interviewed still reach out to him, asking if he has learned anything –– any lead, any piece of information that might help them understand what happened to their loved ones. He speaks about these families as if they were his own, especially when he talks about Hassan and his mother, Abeer. During our conversation, he returned to her story again and again.

What makes this crisis even more infuriating is that families could begin to learn the fate of their loved ones if Israel lifted its blockade on Gaza — imposed long before October 7 and which has intensified  since — and allowed forensic tools into the Strip. They could also get answers if Israel permitted the Red Cross to visit  Palestinians who were abducted from Gaza and subsequently detained, and released details about  the bodies of Palestinians it holds.

I urge you to listen to the full conversation with Mahmoud on The +972 Podcast, to subscribe, and to leave us a review. It really helps new listeners find the show –– and stories like this one.