Prince Albert, Sask., man desperate to bring wife and kids home from Gaza amidst ongoing war
Dayne Patterson | CBC News | Posted: October 18, 2023 9:30 PM | Last Updated: October 20, 2023
When Abdullah Algherbawi last heard from his wife, she was heading to a hospital in Gaza
Abdullah Algherbawi's nights are sleepless.
He says his wife, Sabreen Algherbawi, and their four children aged 3, 9, 11 and 12, are in Gaza, desperately trying to stay a step ahead of airstrikes.
He's heard from them every few days. In a recent conversation, his three-year-old daughter pleaded with him to get her out.
"I don't know how. I don't know how," Abdullah said in a recent phone call with CBC, sobbing.
Abdullah and his family are originally from Palestinian territory, but now live in Prince Albert, Sask. They travelled back a few months ago to visit family. It was their first time returning since becoming Canadian citizens.
When Abdullah returned to Canada in late August for work, his wife and kids stayed behind. That was about a month before Oct. 7, when Hamas militia attacked Israel.
WATCH | Israel and Hamas blame each other for catastrophic blast at a Gaza hospital:
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been forced from their homes in Gaza by heavy Israeli bombardments in the territory.
The war is the most recent episode in more than 70 years of Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Two of his relatives have already died in the current war, he said.
"Maybe today they are safe, but tomorrow, I don't know," Abdullah said of his family.
He is urgently asking for Ottawa's help to bring his family back to Canada.
"If they are trying to buy stuff, there is a shortage of food, water and mostly there is no electricity for like 10 days now. The situation is very, very bad there — even what you are seeing in the TV, there it is more terrible," Abdullah said.
Abdullah said his family has had to move from house to house about a half-dozen times. Recently, the family was staying at Sabreen's parent's house, but that has been destroyed, he said. Then they were staying with her sister, but the neighbourhood was evacuated in fear of bombing. They are now staying in a hospital, he said.
The family is among the several hundred Canadian citizens officials are working to evacuate from the territory. Canadian flights have brought out citizens, permanent residents and families from Tel Aviv, Israel, to Athens, Greece, and eventually Canada.
People in Gaza have been landlocked since a plan for foreign nationals to cross into Egypt was cancelled. Hundreds of trucks with food, fuel and humanitarian aid are stuck on the other side of the Rafah border crossing into Egypt.
"We are Canadian citizens. We believe the Canada government should support us," Abdullah said. "We are not involved in any of this."
Corrections:- A previous version of this story identified Abdullah Algherbawi by the name Abdullah Suliman. In fact, his name is Abdullah Algherbawi. October 19, 2023 10:03 PM