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Fatwas issued to stop illegal migration from Gaza

The families of Palestinians who died in the Mediterranean trying to migrate from Gaza are hoping to find answers about the fate of their loved ones.
The mother of Palestinian Shukri al-Assouli holds a picture of him with his wife and daughter at her house in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip September 18, 2014. Assouli, 33, set off from Alexandria on September 6 with his wife and two children on a ship with 400 migrants on board that was destined for Italy, but the vessel sank and he was rescued by a Japanese commercial ship and taken to Greece. His family is missing.  A devastating war with Israel has swollen the number of Palestinians in the Gaza

KHAN YUNIS, Gaza Strip — Dozens of Palestinians emigrating from Gaza are missing after boats ferrying asylum seekers sank in the Mediterranean in September. The first boat was deliberately sunk by unknown perpetrators on Sept. 10, followed by the sinking of a second boat off the coast of Alexandria on Sept. 12 and a third vessel off the Libyan coast on Sept. 14.

Abu Anwar al-Masri lost nine of his family members in the Sept. 10 tragedy, including his two young sons, Fadel, 10, and Walid, 17, his sister and her children. Since that day, Abu Anwar stands by the sea every afternoon, hoping to find at least one body of his sons. Bodies would allow him to give his beloved ones a proper farewell, hold funeral services for them and receive mourners.

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