Husband of American Mom Trapped at Gaza Border With Their Children Pleads for US Help

The husband of a US citizen trapped in Gaza waiting with their three young children at the only border crossing not under Israeli control, is begging the US for help. 

Abdulla Okal is asking for US intervention to allow his family — as well as several other Americans who are sheltering near the border — to safely evacuate, he told The Messenger from his home in Union County, New Jersey. 

"If they open the border, it’s a two-minute walk to get over,” he said. 

His wife, Haneen Okal, 31, and their children were set to evacuate the Gaza Strip through the Rafah Crossing along Egypt, but it was bombed minutes before she could get through on Tuesday. 

Okal has been stuck in Gaza since August after giving birth there.

She was unable to leave Gaza earlier because her newborn’s passport was delayed by the US Embassy. Her husband eventually had to return to their home in New Jersey for work — leaving Okal and the children in Gaza.

Now Okal and the children — ages 8, 2, and two months — have been shuffling from shelter to shelter since Israel declared war in response to Hamas' devastating assault last Saturday which claimed more than 1,300 Israeli lives.  

As war broke out, Okal hoped the US government would arrange an emergency evacuation of Americans in Gaza. Instead, she has been left to fend for herself. 

Okal returned to the crossing on Friday, which remains closed, her husband,

Her husband said he has desperately been trying to reach Egyptian officials on his own to try to arrange a border crossing.  

“Americans are stuck there, they need help to get out,” he said. 

The Rafah Crossing was shut down this week after it was hit by at least four airstrikes. 

The Egyptian side of the crossing is open, but the Palestinian side is “non-functional” due to the airstrikes, CNN reported.

“The Jordanians and Egyptians are waiting for security clearance from the Israelis to allow (aid) trucks to cross without threat of another airstrike,” the network reported. 

“If she tries to get through the crossing, she might get shot,” Abdulla said of his wife. “The crossing is closed and all the borders that surround it have very high walls so they can't even climb out," he added. 

Following the Hamas attack, Israel quickly launched a “complete siege” on Gaza, which is home to more than 2 million people, nearly half of whom are children, according to the United Nations. 

More than 1,800 people have been killed in Gaza. Supplies of food, fuel, drinking water and electricity have been cut off from the strip.

Israel's military has conducted what it called "localized raids" in the Gaza Strip and ordered massive evacuations there Friday ahead of a potential ground invasion and more mass bombings.