Maritime residents fear for safety of their families in Gaza

Reem Abukmeil says it has been heartbreaking to hear what's happening to her family living in Gaza over the past few days.

Abukmeil, a PhD candidate at Dalhousie University in Halifax, was born and raised in Gaza. She has dozens of relatives still there.

She has been in Nova Scotia since 2020 studying in Dalhousie's faculty of agriculture.

The territory has been the target of retaliatory bombardment after Hamas gunmen from Gaza launched a deadly surprise attack on Israel a week ago.

More than 1,300 Israeli civilians and soldiers were killed, and 150 people were taken hostage. As of Friday, more than 1,800 people have died in Gaza amid the Israeli response, according to the territory's health ministry.

On Friday, Israel ordered people to leave the northern half of Gaza, including Gaza City, within 24 hours and get to the southern region of the territory for their safety. The area is home to a population of over a million people.

"My heart is bleeding, bleeding and I cannot believe what's going on," Abukmeil told CBC Radio's Mainstreet Nova Scotia Friday.

She said all of her family live in the evacuation zone and her immediate family managed to get to the southern region earlier Friday afternoon.

She said her two sisters are in one place and her mother and her two brothers and their families are in another place.

"They sent a video saying goodbye and they asked me to take care of myself," she said.

Abukmeil said her parents' home was near Dar Al-Shifa Hospital, the biggest hospital in Gaza, but bombs have been falling nearby.

'They might die'

Rola Baker lives in Moncton, N.B., but grew up in Gaza. She has three sisters and two brothers living there.

Like Abukmeil, she has been in touch with her family and fears for their safety.

"When I connect to my family, each time they say goodbye to me they might die," she told CBC News Network.

"That's the situation there. It's horrible. It's horrific."

Baker said her family members have been forced to leave their homes to get away from the bombing.

According to Baker, the suffering in Gaza did not begin with this war. She said life has always been difficult in the territory and the majority of people living there rely on humanitarian aid.

Supplies dwindling

According to Abukmeil, since Israel cut off electricity, water and food people have been surviving on food they had in storage and there is very little water. She said supplies of medicine are running out.

Many people who left in the evacuation have been staying with friends and relatives in the southern area, she said.

People without connections in the area have been forced to stay in school buildings where the "situation is miserable," she said.

People won't know if their homes were destroyed until they can return to Gaza City, she said.

Abukmeil said her brother lost his home in a previous bombing and had just moved into a new one in Gaza City in January. She said he picked the neighbourhood because he thought it was in the safest area with no military facilities around.

That neighbourhood was "completely destroyed" in the latest bombardment, she said.

"I really pray and wish that this conflict will stop."