- Published
Ahmed al Madhoun looked like a man who, despite the hardship, loved life.
asserted
who → publish → life
From her partially destroyed home in Gaza City, his mother Majdiya shows us videos of him on her phone.
asserted
mother → destroy → phone
In one, Ahmed is cuddling a kitten.
asserted
Ahmed → cuddle → kitten
He sticks out his tongue and squeals with glee.
asserted
He → stick → glee
In another, he belly flops into a swimming pool, before emerging from the water grinning from ear to ear.
asserted
he → flop → ear
"Everyone was his friend," Majdiya tells the BBC.
asserted
Majdiya → tell → BBC
"He was loved wherever he went, and he always had a smile on his face.
asserted
he → love → face
But Ahmed, who has Down's syndrome, is missing.
asserted
who → have → syndrome
The 21-year-old disappeared in May 2025 after popping to the local shop.
uncertain
old → disappear → shop
At the time, the war in Gaza between Hamas and Israel was raging.
asserted
war → rag → Hamas
That day there were Israeli strikes in the area, and Majdiya fears her son is dead.
asserted
son → be → area
But she doesn't know for certain.
asserted
she → know → ?
"My God, I am not at peace," she says.
asserted
she → say → peace
"I have not lost hope but whether they find him alive or dead, buried under the rubble, only then will I be at peace.
asserted
I → lose → peace
Pain like Majdiya's is felt by mothers all over Gaza.
More than 73,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its military campaign, including about 1,200 since a ceasefire was announced last October, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry - figures considered reliable by the UN.
Israeli media reported in January that a senior Israeli security source said the military accepts the figures are accurate.
uncertain
figures → feel → January
The health ministry's death toll doesn't count bodies buried under the rubble, meaning many of the missing are not part of the count.
asserted
many → count → count
The Red Cross says it has received more than 5,000 requests to trace missing people who could be buried amid the destruction.
uncertain
who → say → destruction
The Civil Defence agency in Gaza believes the number of missing people is over 8,000.
asserted
number → believe → 8,000
Bodies are being discovered on a daily basis.
asserted
Bodies → discover → basis
Earlier this month, a mass funeral took place in Gaza City for more than a hundred people killed in an Israeli attack in 2023.
asserted
funeral → take → 2023
Their remains were only recently recovered and identified, allowing them to be laid to rest.
asserted
them → recover → rest
The Red Cross says recovering bodies is difficult given the scale of the destruction and a lack of bulldozers.
asserted
recovering → say → bulldozers
In many cases, identifying the remains is also challenging when people have been dead for so long and with a lack of DNA testing, due to Israeli restrictions on what can enter Gaza.
asserted
what → identify → Gaza
Ahmed al Madhoun's family knows he may well have been killed - but they also fear he may have been detained by Israeli security forces.
uncertain
he → know → forces
Over almost three years of war, Israeli forces have detained approximately 7,000 Palestinians from Gaza, more than 5,000 of whom were later released without ever being charged, according to the Israel-based Public Committee Against Torture, external.
uncertain
5,000 → detain → Torture
As of this month, around 1,300 detainees from Gaza were being held in Israeli jails without charge or trial, according to the Israeli human rights group HaMoked.
uncertain
detainees → hold → group
The group says these figures do not include Gaza detainees held directly by the Israeli military.
asserted
figures → say → military
Palestinian families have frequently not been notified by Israel of the arrest or whereabouts of their relatives, according to HaMoked and other rights groups - forcing many to rely on NGOs and lawyers to help track them down.
uncertain
families → notify → them
The BBC has asked the IDF and Israel Prison Service (IPS) about their reported failure to contact relatives of those they have detained.
asserted
they → ask → those
Israeli authorities have previously said prolonged detentions were due to wartime security grounds and rejected claims that detentions are arbitrary.
uncertain
detentions → say → claims
Aida al Drimli from the Sabra district of Gaza City, shows us a picture of her son, Mahmoud, a fresh-faced young man draped in a Palestinian scarf.
asserted
Drimli → show → scarf
"He was a calm well-mannered young man," Aida says.
asserted
Aida → say → ?
"He loved everyone and everyone loved him."
asserted
everyone → love → him
Mahmoud disappeared in 2024.
asserted
Mahmoud → disappear → 2024
His family feared he had been killed in an Israeli attack.
asserted
he → fear → attack
"His father would go to the hospitals and look at the bodies," Aida tells us.
asserted
Aida → go → us
"But I couldn't face it.
asserted
I → face → it
I was completely devastated.
asserted
I → devastate → ?
But then this summer a photo emerged on social media showing two Israeli soldiers posing with a Palestinian detainee, blindfolded and bound.
asserted
soldiers → emerge → detainee
From his features, from his forehead, his mouth, his nose, the way he sits, the way he closes his mouth, his hands, his legs from below.
asserted
he → sit → legs
…and 20 more, not listed.
The Aporia
