An unexpected reunion became a nightmare for an American family trapped in Gaza
Hamas attacks on Israel: State Department, National Security Council, and Kirby’s interview with the NPR televangelist
Israel is intensifying air strikes on Gaza after the weekend’s surprise air, land and sea attack by Hamas, in which militants killed 1,300 Israelis and took some 150 as hostages.
Videos from inside Gaza show entire blocks reduced to rubble and children being pulled from the debris. Some 24 families have been wiped out since Saturday.
There are talks to create a safe corridor for civilians according to the Biden administration.
Meanwhile, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has said this is just the start of what’s to come. The country is preparing for a ground invasion. The Israeli human rights group B’tselem says it’s a criminal policy of revenge. The International Committee of the Red Cross says the life support for Gaza is at a fork in the road.
The State Department announced that the Secretary of State is going to deliver a message of solidarity and support to Israel.
On Tuesday, In Washington, President Joe Biden called Hamas’ attack on Israel “pure unadulterated evil” and promised to “make sure Israel has what it needs to take care of itself.”
More than 20 Americans are missing in Israel, according to Biden. In an interview with NPR, John Kirby, the National Security Council spokesman, said that there were some Americans held hostage by Hamas, but he called it a very small number.
“There’s also a larger number of Americans that are just unaccounted for. Some of them could end up in the hostage pool. We just don’t know. So, we’re, we’re trying to get as much information as we can,” Kirby said.
Hamas invaded Gaza: When Israelis and Palestinians came together to grieve in the aftermath of the September 7th Yom Kippur War
The bloodshed began on the Jewish Simchat Torah holiday, and a day after the 50th anniversary of the start of the Yom Kippur War, when Israel came under attack by Arab countries.
The Palestinian militant group Hamas, which took control of Gaza in 2007, launched a massive surprise attack along Israel’s southern border on Saturday. Militants infiltrated Israel’s border using paragliders, motorbikes, and boats.
No electricity means no internet or connection to the outside world. Garbage is flowing into the streets of Gaza and waste treatment facilities need electricity. The supply of water has been cut. Driving south on Monday, I passed five United Nations schools-turned-shelters, so jampacked with displaced people that families spilled out into the yards. I know the worst is yet to come and I have Dread inside of me.
Over 2,300 Israelis and Palestinians have been killed so far, the majority of them civilians. I am sad about the deaths of civilians. I know that the pain of an Israeli parent is no different from the anguish of a mother or father in Gaza. Yet I’m not surprised that we have found ourselves at this bloody point of no return.
A lot of the fighters who broke those walls are younger than Ali but were born during the second intifada. Their entire experience has been Israeli military occupation, siege and devastating military assault upon assault in an enclave of 140 square miles, with unemployment and poverty rates of approximately 50 percent. The conditions that have shaped Gaza are what the history is about, not a justification. Israel created these fighters by starving them.
The Biden administration is urging Israel to get humanitarian supplies into Gaza. It is trying to get the release of hostages that include an unknown number of Americans.
The 30-year-old grew up in Gaza, but hadn’t been back since moving to the U.S. seven years ago. Abuzayda and her husband, who is American, had gone back and forth about when exactly to visit.
We changed our tickets many times before deciding to come to Gaza. “And our short vacation just turned into a nightmare.”
Abuzayda, her husband Abood and their one-and-a-half year old son Yousef traveled from Massachusetts for a 2-week trip. They don’t know when they will be able to go home.
The US Embassy in Amman received multiple calls from Abuzayda after the attack on Saturday. They told her they did not have any updates. Then she tried the embassy in Cairo, to no avail.
She told them that they were not doing anything and that she was running out of milk, diapers and other items. They are continuously posting about U.S. citizens in Israel. They remind the people in Israel to leave every five minutes.
Many people are attempting to leave the country, since major US airlines have stopped flying in and out of the country. A New York congressman said that his district has hundreds of people trying to get home from Israel.
The U.S. increased the travel advisory for Israel and the West Bank on Wednesday to level three, or “reconsider travel.” The advisory for Gaza remains at level four, “do not travel.”
Abuzayda, who is staying at her parents’ house with other relatives, said her sister-in-law and her three kids had tried to cross the Rafah border, but they had to turn back after it came under an Israeli airstrike.
Daddy is safe inside and outside, but he’s afraid of me. ‘When you’re afraid, you can’t always be with me,’ he tells you
She said it’s not safe inside or outside. Markets are running low on supplies. She wants to maximize the milk and diaper she has left to make sure Yousef is safe and in good spirits.
She said the hardest feeling is to hide fear in order to keep your son positive. He thinks this is fireworks because he doesn’t understand anything. When I tell him that it is nothing, I clap and he claps, as if it’s fireworks. Sometimes he will jump, he will be scared and freaking out if I’m not next to him.”
Source: An overdue reunion became a nightmare for this American family now trapped in Gaza
“Please save me”: Anas Baba, a Gazan journalist’s frustrated frustrations with Israel and the war in the Gaza Strip
She said “please save us” as her voice began to choke. “Please. I have a one-and-a-half year old, I got him after six times of IVF … We have been trying for a week to call the embassy. Nobody’s helping, nobody’s getting back to us. Please save us.”
The infrastructure has been weakened by four wars since 2008, and a 16-year blockade. Palestinians say it is something they have never seen before.
He was stuck in the dark outside the main hospital. Abu Zarefeh says it was too dark for people to move, and fuel is running out for transportation.
“We are trying to survive,” he said. “The Israeli attacks are at every inch of the Gaza Strip so there are no safe places, nowhere to escape and to run.”
The journalist feels that his neighborhood is too dangerous to return to now. He’s lost touch with some of his children because communications were cut off.
“This conflict is between Hamas and Israel. Why does Israel destroy our homes? Is it destroying entire neighborhoods? Abu Zarafeh said. “This is punishment.”
Anas Baba is an NPR producer in Gaza. As he tries to cover this war for the world, he’s also trying to survive it. He tried to get his family out of the house.
“I took them from the house, and I started to just think, where am I going to take them? Where will I place them so they’re not seen? Is there any safe place in Gaza?” He said it over the phone.
He said “everyone is thinking about how to stay alive.” “We are human, we are part of this world. This is a civilization that we are in. Don’t forget us.
The US State Department has said that it’s “gravely concerned” about the security and wellbeing of its citizens after an Israeli air offensive in Gaza Strip. “We’re doing everything we can to provide help to those affected by the conflict,” a spokesperson added. Meanwhile, the US State Department urged Israel to “exercise maximum restraint” and “take all necessary actions to de-escalate tensions”.