‘Tell us’: Gaza family trapped between hope and pain over missing brothers
The disappearance of two boys last year has turned the Abdel Aal family’s life into an endless search for answers.
Source excerpt
Gaza City, the Gaza Strip – For more than a year, Ashjan Abdel Aal’s life has been suspended between grief and hope.
Two of her sons, Othman and Sami, have been missing since the morning of June 29, 2025, when they left their displaced family’s home in Gaza City – only never to return.
“I want them to come back,” the 36-year-old says through tears. “I want a day when I can see them, hug them and hear their voices.”
The two brothers – Othman, who would now be 17, and Sami, 13 – said they would head to an aid distribution point near the so-called Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza, promising their six-year-old sister Emarat they would bring her sweets.
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