Trapped in Gaza, Medway family pleads for help
Airstrikes constant as supplies dwindle
A Medway family that traveled to visit relatives in the Gaza Strip is now stuck in the middle of a war zone with no supplies as Israeli forces continue to pummel the area with airstrikes in response to the surprise terrorist attack by Hamas last weekend.
Wafaa Abuzayda and Abood Okal brought their one-and-a-half year old son, Yousef, to visit family in both the West Bank and Gaza and were scheduled to return to Massachusetts on Friday. She said they have been trying to escape since the violence broke out last Saturday but have made no progress and are staying at their family’s home in Jabalia.
“Our short trip just turned into a nightmare,” Abuzayda said in a brief phone interview Thursday morning.
The bombings have been continuous, she said, pulverizing the buildings and infrastructure that surround them.
“If anyone tells you there’s a safe place in Gaza, [there’s] nothing,” she said. “I’m not safe right now. I’m expecting to be dead in any minute.”
The war between Hamas and Israel has claimed at least 2,700 lives, including roughly 1,400 people in Gaza.
About 340,000 people in Gaza had fled their homes as of Wednesday night, most of them crowding into schools run by the United Nations.
Many others, including Abuzayda and her family, have stayed with relatives and are frantically waiting for help.
All the stores are shut, people remain in shelters or inside their homes, and the bombings last all day and night, she said through a teary phone call with the Globe.
“You [don’t] see people, because everyone is hiding,” she said.
A neighbor who still has electricity has been allowing them to charge their cellphones so they can stay in touch with friends and family in the United States, Abuzayda said.
One of those friends is Sammy Nabulsi, a Boston lawyer who first met the couple about a year ago through a mutual friend. Nabulsi also has young children, and their families have become close.
His main focus now is bringing his friends home safely.
“This is an American family. Putting aside the disagreements here, on the world stage, we have to have other Americans’ backs, period,” he said. “It has to be a priority to bring this family and others like them in Israel and in Gaza home now.”
‘I’m expecting to be dead in any minute.’
WAFAA ABUZAYDA, describing the violence in the Gaza Strip
It is unclear exactly how many US citizens are stuck in Gaza, where supplies, fuel, and electricity have been cut off. The Wall Street Journal reported that an estimated 500 to 600 US citizens live in the Gaza Strip. A State Department spokesperson told the Globe they were unable to provide a number.
Israel said nothing will be allowed in until Hamas frees some 150 hostages taken during their deadly incursion on Saturday. Supplies have also been blocked from entering the Gaza Strip through Egypt.
“Not a single electricity switch will be flipped on, not a single faucet will be turned on, and not a single fuel truck will enter until the Israeli hostages are returned home,” Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz said on social media.
The conditions in Gaza have led international aid groups to declare it a humanitarian crisis.
Abuzayda said they have no food to eat or clean water to drink and no diapers for Yousef. He typically drinks a full bottle of milk, she said, but now they are only giving him a half-bottle at a time.
“You know, what’s the hardest feeling ever? To hide your fear and show the opposite for my son,” she said, her voice breaking. “Every time there is a bombing, I tell him, ‘These are fireworks, clap . . . clap. [These are] fireworks, don’t be afraid.’”
The only way out of Gaza is through Egypt, which has kept its border closed out of fear of being drawn into the war. Abuzayda told NPR that they tried crossing the border but had to flee as Israel bombed the area while they were there.
Abuzayda said she and Okal have appealed to the US embassies in Jerusalem and Cairo, but have not heard any plans to help them escape.
“They are not helping at all,” she said. “Every time we call, they tell us, ‘There’s no updates. We don’t have anything.’”
The family has also communicated with Senator Edward J. Markey’s office and said they were encouraged by his staff ’s attention to their situation but they do not know if or when any help will arrive.
Markey’s office said in a statement that the senator “is deeply concerned about the safety of innocent civilians in Israel and Gaza, including American citizens and Massachusetts residents who have been unable to return home.”
“The Senator will continue to do everything in his power to advocate for and support these families,” his office said.
In a statement to the Globe, a State Department spokesperson said US officials “are working 24/7 to try to assist” families trapped in dangerous areas and urged US citizens to fill out an online crisis form with their contact information.
“We absolutely have no higher priority than the safety of American citizens and we are prioritizing that in all engagements. We are discussing this with our counterparts in Israel and in Egypt and are exploring options based on the security situation on the ground and what is possible. We are in touch with private U.S. citizens to determine what assistance we may be able to provide.”
Abuzayda, who previously worked for a Boston-area nonprofit, and Okal, a research director for a pharmaceutical company, recently bought a home in Medway. Abuzayda grew up in Gaza before moving to the United States eight years ago, and her husband grew up in Saudi Arabia and moved to Gaza with his parents when he was 10. Okal has lived in the United States for 17 years, she said.