A Calgary family is among those who left Gaza. Their father chose to stay behind

At the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, about 17 kilometres away from the Rafah border, Mansour Shouman hugged and kissed his family as they were set to leave Gaza through the Egyptian crossing on Tuesday morning.

Rafah is the only exit for foreign nationals who wish to leave the Palestinian territory, which has been under constant bombardment since Oct. 7.

On that day, Hamas attacks on southern Israel killed 1,400 people and resulted in 240 people taken hostage, according to statistics from Israeli officials. Israel's military response has killed 10,328 people in Gaza, including some 4,237 children, according to Palestinian health officials in the enclave.

Shouman, who has been a Canadian citizen since 2006, received an email from Global Affairs Canada the night before. It said that he, his wife and five children were included on a list of Canadian nationals, and people with ties to this country, given a pass to leave the Palestinian territory. 

His family, with children ages four to 16, left through the crossing at 9 a.m. However, Shouman decided to stay put. 

"We said, 'We'll see each other very soon,'" Shouman said of the conversation with his children.

"My kids told me, 'Stay steadfast, stay here, this is our land, it's just that now we don't have any food, any water, we're getting sick and there's no medication.'"

While he said his older children understood his decision to stay, it was harder for the younger ones. 

Shouman said he told his younger children that they need to find their cat Meelo, who ran away when an airstrike hit close to their building.

"They were like, 'Yeah, of course, Meelo is important,'" he said.

Two of Shouman's children were born in Canada, but the family went back to the Palestinian territory last year after seven years in Calgary to be closer to family and live a life that was tied to their Islamic and social norms.

Shouman's decision to stay during the ongoing war was based on a number of things.

Having lived in the West and being able to communicate in English, he said he felt a need to remain in Gaza and communicate with the outside world about what's going on.

He has spoken with several media outlets across the world and has set up social media channels, where he reports what he sees on a day-to-day basis.