Americans Fear for Loved Ones in Gaza: No Food, No Water, No Electricity and No Escape

As the humanitarian crisis inside the Gaza Strip deteriorates rapidly, and Israel warns more than one million residents to leave North Gaza, Palestinian Americans with relatives inside the strip are trying desperately to contact their families and appealing to the White House for help.

Official U.S. estimates put the number of U.S. citizens in the Gaza Strip at between 500 and 600. For now, they are trapped–along with so many others–as Israel bombs the enclave and the siege of Gaza leaves no way for its residents to escape. 

“Right now, they—they can’t leave. So, we would have no physical means of permitting that transit out,” John Kirby, the spokesman for the National Security Council, told reporters Thursday.

“And so that’s why we’re so actively having conversations with the Israelis and the Egyptians about a safe passage corridor so that people who want to leave can leave.”

How such a “corridor” would work is unclear. Israel, in response to Hamas’ devastating attack Saturday, has imposed a “complete siege,” blocking all crossings into and out of the Gaza Strip. A southern border crossing to Egypt has been effectively closed following Israeli airstrikes earlier in the week and Egypt’s own unwillingness to open its territory to a large-scale influx of refugees. 

The Americans in Gaza

The American relatives of those trapped inside painted a grim picture of the situation Friday, with little hope for residents to move through the enclave safely, let alone escape Gaza altogether. 

Many were trying desperately to contact their families, as the bombing continued and an Israeli ground invasion appeared imminent. 

“The shelling is unprecedented...It’s everywhere,” said Rami Sultan, a Palestinian American in the San Francisco Bay Area, who spoke to The Messenger after losing contact with his family in Gaza. 

Residents in the north, Sultan said, had little hope of evacuating safely “in the midst of the carnage on the ground.” 

“There’s no food, no water, no electricity, no fuel, no medical supplies,” he said. 

Some Gazans were physically unable to heed the evacuation orders. 

“All of my aunts and uncles are over the age of 80 so they can't just pick up and leave,” Sultan said. “My family realizes it’s a decision between death from the missile assault or death through starvation and disease. There's no choice. There isn't a choice, so they told us that they're going to stay where they are.”

Taher Herzallah, a Palestinian American in Minneapolis, said half of his family in northern Gaza had evacuated to the south following the evacuation warning, but the others, who are elderly, could not.

“It's such a devastating situation, really beyond description,” Herzallah told The Messenger after speaking with his family. 

"Israel told people to get out but they know that they can't get out and they are not giving them the ability to get out so basically they’re shooting fish in a tin can," he said.

Basic services "on brink of collapse"

The Israeli evacuation order came as shortages of food and fuel deepened; Israel has said it would not allow any supplies to enter the Gaza Strip until Hamas releases the hostages it took in its devastating weekend attack. The U.N. said Friday that “essential health, water and sanitation services” were on “the brink of collapse.” 

The state of hospitals, which have been relying on power from generators, is a particular worry.

The World Health Organization said Friday that "with ongoing airstrikes and closed borders, civilians have no safe place to go,” adding that "vulnerable patients” including “those who are critically injured or dependent on life support” were unable to move at all. 

“Moving them amid hostilities puts their lives at immediate risk,” the WHO warned. 

“What will happen to our patients?” asked Nebal Farsakh, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent in Gaza City, who spoke to the Associated Press.

“We have wounded, we have elderly, we have children who are in hospitals. Forget about food, forget about electricity, forget about fuel. The only concern now is just if you’ll make it, if you’re going to live.”