'They just don't care': Palestinian-Canadians plead with Ottawa to help them get families out of Gaza
CBC
It's hard for Shouq Alnajjar to hold her anger in check when she talks about the the family she left behind in Gaza.
"They're living in hell," she said. "It's so dangerous there."
Alnajjar, a Palestinian-Canadian, was living in Gaza City with her Palestinian husband when Israel declared war on Hamas following Hamas's brutal Oct. 7 attack on Israeli civilians.
After weeks of waiting and anxious phone calls to Global Affairs Canada, Alnajjar was able to get herself, her husband and her mother on the approved list to leave Gaza through the Rafah Gate border crossing.
Alnajjar and her mother fled Gaza on Nov. 12; they're now in Cairo. She said her husband stayed behind to look after his mother, who needs care after knee surgery, and has not been included in the list of people approved to leave the Gaza Strip.
Alnajjar said Global Affairs Canada told her that her mother-in-law was not eligible to leave because "she does not meet the criteria for immediate family."
"They just don't care if my husband dies in Gaza," she said of Global Affairs Canada, "I cannot believe that this is how we are treated."
Alnajjar is far from alone. In a statement sent to CBC News, Global Affairs Canada said that as of Dec. 7, there are roughly 200 Canadian citizens and permanent residents, along with family members, stuck in Gaza and looking to leave. The government said it can't comment on individual cases.
From his home in Burlington, Ont., Nael Alhalis relies on phone updates from his wife Enas and young children, who are also trapped in Gaza.
"They say, 'Baba, we miss you. We don't want to die. We want to be with you'," said Alhalis, describing his conversations with his 13-year-old daughter Layan and nine-year-old son Kareem.
"It really breaks my heart. It's a heart-wrenching situation. I break and I cry."
Alhalis' children are on the list to leave the Gaza Strip. His wife is not. He said he's contacted the office of his local member of Parliament and Global Affairs Canada to advocate for his wife.
Alhalis' wife and their children live in Gaza full-time, but he splits his time between Canada and the Gaza Strip. He said his family is suffering.
"Our children don't have blankets to keep warm. They don't have any warm water to wash," he said, adding that they've only taken two showers in the last two months.
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