No body, no death certificate: the bureaucratic limbo trapping the widows of Gaza’s missing men – Mondoweiss

A Palestinian mother bathes her child inside a camp for displaced people in the al-Zawaida area of the central Gaza Strip, on June 17, 2026. Thousands of displaced families continue to endure harsh humanitarian conditions and extreme summer temperatures while living in tents that lack basic services and essential living conditions. (Hassan Jedi / apaimages)

No body, no death certificate: the bureaucratic limbo trapping the widows of Gaza’s missing men

In Gaza, women whose husbands are missing or buried under the rubble are facing a little-known crisis. Without death certificates for their husbands, they’re locked out of bank accounts, aid, and custody rights, trapped in bureaucratic limbo amid genocide.