As bombs rained down on Gaza on Monday, Palestinian-Americans visiting or living there said they were desperately trying to find ways out of the region but have received little or no support from US Embassy officials even though they are US citizens.
Meanwhile, they said they were told by the US Embassy that the routes out of the Gaza Strip had been narrowed down to one: A passage through Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, which reportedly had been halted for a period of time Monday because of bombing activity.
A new security alert from the US Embassy on Monday read, in part, “U.S. citizens in Gaza who wish to leave and can do so safely are advised to check the status of the Rafah Crossing into Egypt.”
Said Shaath, 64, of Fresno, California, who is working in the humanitarian sector in Gaza, said US Embassy officials told one of his cousins to make his way to the Egypt border crossing, if he could do so safely.
“I don’t know what ‘safely’ means? We are living in Rimal, it’s very risky to drive all the way to south Rafah terminal,” he said. “This is not secure because along the way there is a chance that you will be targeted,” given the constant barrage of Israeli airstrikes. Under normal circumstances, the drive from Rimal to the Rafah crossing can take up to an hour.
A CNN reporter on the phone with Shaath could hear loud explosions from the bombardment throughout the discussions.
“My house is shaking. I swear to God the pillars in my house are cracking,” Shaath said.
Lena Beseiso, 57, of Salt Lake City, Utah, described the terror of being trapped: “It hurts, you jump out of your skin thinking this is the last breath.”
Beseiso – who had not been to Gaza in 12 years – traveled there in late March to visit and spend time with her husband, daughters, niece, and grandson. She too is frustrated by the lack of options given by the US government after repeatedly calling the US Embassy emergency lines to seek help evacuating.
“When we finally got somebody on the phone, we were pleading. [My daughters] were practically crying saying they needed their assistance,” she said. A woman on the line said she couldn’t help them, Beseiso added.
“She just kept saying, ‘Sorry, we were not notified to help you, we were not given any information to assist you,'” Beseiso said. “She kept on telling the girls this emergency line is for Israel.”
CNN calls to the US Embassy in Jerusalem Monday evening were directed to the branch office in Tel Aviv. A person who answered there told CNN they were advised not to comment beyond what was published on the Embassy website.
In response to a CNN query, a State Department spokesperson said, “We continue to closely monitor the dynamic security situation,” and referred U.S. citizens to their website, travel.state.gov, for assistance.
Abdulla Okal, 34, is watching the drama unfold from his family’s home in New Jersey. His wife, Haneen, and their three young children – ages 8, 2 and 2 months – are stuck in Gaza. All of them are US citizens.
“I don’t know what to do, to be honest,” Okal told CNN. “This is the first time my wife and my kids are far from me, and it’s war, it’s a real war.”
Okal said his wife called the US Embassy on Saturday, and they gave her a link to fill out an application form and told her to wait for a callback. She called again Monday after not hearing back, Okal said, and was told that they wouldn’t be able to help her soon but that they would keep her posted.
She hasn’t heard anything else, her husband said.
Okal is desperate and says the thought of his family traveling to the last remaining crossing in Rafah is scary: “It’s really dangerous, you’re going from the north all the way to the south… the routes are bombed, there are huge holes, the cars can’t even drive on it.”
The State Department has long warned Americans against travel to Gaza “due to terrorism, civil unrest, and armed conflict.”
