GAZA, April 1 (Xinhua) -- The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said Sunday it has been exerting efforts to uncover the fate of Palestinians who went missing during Friday clashes with the Israeli troops along the Gaza-Israel borderline.
"We knew that some Palestinians went missing during rally on Friday," Suhair Zaqout, spokesperson for the ICRC in Gaza, told Xinhua.
She added that the ICRC has contacts with families and with the authorities concerned, adding that the international agency is following up the issue.
"We maintain bilateral and non-public dialogue with the authorities concerned," she revealed.
Zaqout refrained from giving the number of missing persons or any further details. However, well-informed Palestinian sources told Xinhua that there are at least two missing persons, most likely killed, and the Israeli authorities are holding their bodies.
At least 16 Palestinians were shot dead and over 1,200 were injured Friday as Israeli forces opened fire towards scores of Palestinian protestors marking Land Day at a rally held at the borders between Gaza and Israel.
The Friday rally was the start of a six-week long protest that is expected to reach a peak on May 15, the day Israel celebrates its establishment, while the Palestinians mark the forcible transfer of two thirds of the Palestinian people and the ethnic cleansing of 418 Palestinian villages.
Palestinians accused Israel of holding the bodies of scores of Palestinian killed during the ongoing conflict and burying them in secret in graveyards known as cemeteries of numbers.
