For Canadians stuck in Gaza, agonizing uncertainty around closed border crossing
Rhianna Schmunk | CBC News | Posted: October 16, 2023 7:53 PM | Last Updated: October 16, 2023
'We’re just waiting for a glimpse of hope for us to leave,' says Canadian stuck in southern Gaza
For hours on Monday, dozens of families on the Gaza side of the Rafah border crossing waited for someone to open a chain-link fence so they could cross into Egypt as they believed they'd been promised. Many parents had spent three days waiting with their young children for the chance to escape the territory.
"We have no idea what to do," said Asia Mathhour, a Canadian citizen stuck in Gaza with her husband and their two young children.
"We don't feel safe. We live in a very crowded neighbourhood, a refugee camp, and we're actually scared because they are bombing really close to us," she said. "A bomb could drop near us any minute and we could be collateral damage."
Mathhour and her family were among hundreds of Canadians stuck in Gaza and the West Bank as the war between Israel and Gaza stretched into its 10th day. Many had hoped to get out through Rafah, the only path out of Gaza that is not controlled by Israel, only to learn a rumoured ceasefire to open the border wasn't happening.
"We're just waiting for a glimpse of hope for us to leave," said Mo Nasser, another Canadian who had planned to leave Gaza through Rafah on Monday.
"We're waiting for someone to tell us it's OK to cross, otherwise we have nowhere to go."
WATCH | A UN agency providing aid to Palestinians says supplies are dwindling in Gaza under Israel's escalated siege:
Thousands of people were stuck at the blocked crossing with Egypt on Monday having heard claims they might be able to leave under a truce to bring in humanitarian aid and send civilians out. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said later Monday there had been no such deal.
Hundreds of trucks with critical food, fuel and other humanitarian aid are stuck on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border.
Speaking from Khan Younis in southern Gaza, Nasser said supermarket shelves and gas stations have been dwindling as Israel continues its airstrikes in retaliation for Hamas's deadly invasion last week. Hospitals in Gaza also faced collapse Monday as water, power and medicine supplies ran low, according to the United Nations.
"It's unthinkable what's going on here," Nasser said. "People don't know where to go or what to do."
Hundreds of Canadians need assistance to leave, Ottawa says
With Israel planning a ground invasion of Gaza, Canadian officials are working to help as many as 300 Canadian citizens and permanent residents out of the territory. Another 250 Canadians need support to leave the West Bank, a Palestinian territory Israel has occupied since 1967.
On Monday, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said 21 Canadians and foreign nationals took a bus out of the West Bank into neighbouring Jordan.
For Canadians with family in Gaza, the emotions are overwhelming.
"As I'm speaking to you at this moment, I don't know if they're alive or not," said Rani Hemaid, whose mother, father, grandfather, brother, sister-in-law and five nieces are all stuck in Gaza.
Hemaid moved to Hamilton, Ont., after the 51-day 2014 Gaza war. He said he has contacted federal and consular officials to help his family to Canada, but hasn't had luck because they are not citizens or permanent residents.
He said his parents and grandfather were separated from his siblings and nieces as they tried to escape this week – news that brought up an unbearable memory from his experience during the last conflict.
"I remember me and my siblings and my parents laying on the floor, watching fire from the bombings. There was a wish for me at that moment: 'God please, if a bomb hits this place right now, please [let] no one survive," he said.
"I saw several stories in Gaza that an entire family was killed in a bomb and there is one person surviving.... I don't want any of my siblings, my mom or my dad to be that person," he continued.
"If that happens, I just want … all [of us] to die together. This is the wish of the people in Gaza."
Long-simmering tensions in the region exploded when Hamas fighters stormed into Israel from Gaza, killing hundreds of civilians and taking more than 150 people hostage on Oct. 7.
Israel responded to the assault by attacking Gaza, which has been controlled by Hamas since 2007. Israel's complete siege has cut off food, water and electricity to 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza, one of the most densely populated and impoverished territories in the world.
More than 4,000 people have been killed on both sides in the last 10 days.