Family Awaits News of Man Missing in Gaza for Three Years
Translated & summarized from Arab48 by baba
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- Mahmoud Bayari has been missing in Gaza for three years.
- His family in Jaffa is seeking information on his whereabouts.
- He entered Gaza before the October 7th war and remained after it began.
- Contact was lost two months into the war after his area was bombed.
- The family has approached Israeli authorities and institutions for help.
The Bayari family in Jaffa continues to live in uncertainty, desperately seeking information about the fate of family patriarch Mahmoud Bayari, who disappeared in the Gaza Strip approximately three years ago. The family remains unaware if he is alive or deceased, despite ongoing efforts to find answers.
Bayari had entered Gaza about a week and a half before the October 7, 2023, war to visit relatives, using permits available to residents of Israel for such visits. He remained in Gaza when the war broke out and did not leave with family members who subsequently departed the Strip.
Contact with Bayari was lost about two months into the war. The family received fragmented reports that the area where he was staying in Khan Younis was bombed, but they have no definitive information on whether he survived or perished. Since communication ceased, the family has approached Israeli police, the military, and various institutions in their search for information.
Saeed Bayari, Mahmoud's son, told "Arabs 48" that his father's last known location was in a building in Khan Younis, north of the Gaza border fence. He reportedly went to retrieve something from the third floor when the area was shelled. While the body of an elderly man he was with was found, Mahmoud Bayari's body was not recovered. This last piece of information was received in 2024. The family is seeking closure, whether it be confirmation of his death or evidence of his survival, stating that the lack of knowledge prevents them from living normally.
Read the original at Arab48