After 18 months of mourning, a Gaza son is found alive in an Israeli prison
Key takeaways
- After searching morgues and opening a mourning tent, a Palestinian family receives a phone call confirming their son is being held in Ofer Prison.
- They had scoured Gaza for his body, obtained a death certificate and erected a tent to mourn his loss, but then an unexpected phone call from a lawyer confirmed he was alive and being held in Israel’s Ofer Prison.
- It ended an agonising year-and-a-half search for Eid, but the revelation highlights the devastating plight of thousands of other families in the Gaza Strip who still await news about their missing relatives.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
After searching morgues and opening a mourning tent, a Palestinian family receives a phone call confirming their son is being held in Ofer Prison.
xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogle Add Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Gaza mother Maha Abu Shaar holds her phone displaying a photo of her son Eid as she cries with joy and sadness after discovering he is alive but in an Israeli prison [Screengrab/Al Jazeera]By Mohammad Mansour and Mohammed Shaheen Published On 8 May 20268 May 2026For 18 months, the family of Eid Nael Abu Shaar, a Palestinian man from Gaza, believed this eldest son was dead.
They had scoured Gaza for his body, obtained a death certificate and erected a tent to mourn his loss, but then an unexpected phone call from a lawyer confirmed he was alive and being held in Israel’s Ofer Prison.