After almost a month, Medway household escapes Gaza

A household from Medway that has been trapped in Gaza for nearly a month amid the Israel-Hamas battle lastly made it by a border crossing and into Egypt this week.

Abood Okal; his spouse, Wafaa Abuzayda; and their 1-year-old son, Yousef left the enclave by the Rafah Crossing at 5:20 a.m. Thursday, The Boston Globe reported. The household, who lives in Medway, was visiting household in Gaza when the battle broke out. 

“The Okal Household is overwhelmed with the love and assist they’ve obtained from residence and overseas, however they’re additionally exhausted, bodily and emotionally drained, and have an extended journey forward of them again to america,” the household mentioned in an announcement to the Globe. “The Okal Household expresses its deepest gratitude to their household and mates all over the world, the Medway neighborhood, the media for sharing their plight and the plight of the a whole bunch of different People trapped in Gaza, their elected officers who fought laborious for his or her return, and the State Division for offering them with protected departure.”

Following weeks of stalled negotiations, injured Palestinians and international nationalists had been allowed to cross by into Egypt starting Wednesday. The Okal household had been holed up  with about 40 different individuals in a home about 10 minutes from the border crossing. Hope got here and went as U.S. officers often mentioned that the border could open to U.S. residents all through October. They traveled to the crossing a number of instances, solely to be rebuffed. 

As they waited for protected passage, provides started to expire. Sizzling meals had been an impossibility, and the household ate largely canned tuna and fava beans, Sammy Nabulsi, an lawyer and household good friend, wrote in a chunk for MSNBC. Clear ingesting water was scarce, and generally ingesting saltwater was the one choice. 

Yousef suffered an ear an infection through the household’s ordeal, and his dad and mom ran out of milk to present him. Okal and his spouse slept with their son wedged between them, hoping it could present some measure of safety within the occasion of an artillery strike, in line with the Globe. Okal described seeing airstrikes round Rafah, and listening to the sounds of extra explosions and gunfire. 

After Hamas terrorists killed greater than 1,400 individuals and took greater than 200 hostages on Oct. 7, Israel advised Palestinians in Gaza to evacuate to the south as troops bombarded the enclave relentlessly.

Israeli troops launched a floor invasion of Gaza this week, and fierce gun fights had been reportedly happening round Gaza Metropolis Thursday. Israeli officers have mentioned that their purpose is to destroy Hamas. Their techniques thus far seem to heart on separating the north from the south whereas closing in on Gaza Metropolis.

Greater than 9,000 individuals have died in Gaza because the battle started, officers there have mentioned. Dying tolls and their accuracy, on each side, have been the middle of a lot debate just lately. 

Amid the chaos, scores of individuals are hoping to observe the Okal household and make their manner into Egypt. With gasoline at a premium and airstrikes all over the place, merely attending to the border is a harrowing process. 

“You can be collateral injury any time,” Ala Al Husseini, an Austrian citizen who evacuated on Wednesday, advised The New York Occasions. “I used to be scared to dying.”

Though the Okal household is now farther from the warzone, getting again residence to Massachusetts will possible be no easy process. They’re prioritizing privateness now, they advised the Globe, whereas calling for the protected departure of different People in Gaza. The household requested for “compassion and prayers for the harmless civilians in Gaza, who gave them shelter, who helped them discover meals and water, however who proceed to be with out their very own provide of meals, water, gasoline, or drugs to reside.”