Overview
- Gaza Civil Defence has recorded 2,842 people classified as “evaporated” since October 2023 after searches recovered only blood spray or tiny tissue fragments.
- Teams cross-referenced known occupants with recovered remains to identify missing victims, a method officials say relies on on-site documentation rather than estimates.
- An Al Jazeera investigation linked the disappearances to high-temperature thermal and thermobaric effects from US-manufactured MK-84, BLU-109 and GBU-39 munitions.
- Civil Defence reported finding GBU-39 components at multiple strike sites, with documented cases including 22 people lost in al-Mawasi and an attack on Gaza City’s al-Tabin school.
- Legal experts argue the weapons may violate international law and implicate suppliers, noting ICJ measures and an ICC warrant have not produced accountability or halted the destruction.