Massachusetts Mom Trapped in Gaza Pleads for Help From US: ‘Please Save Us’

A Massachusetts mother is pleading for United States officials to rescue her and her family, including her year-old son, as they remain trapped in war-torn Gaza.

Wafaa Abuzayda grew up in Gaza, but moved to the US seven years ago, NPR reported.

After she and her American husband, Abood, struggled to decide when to visit her home country with their infant son, Yousef, they finally agreed on a date for their two-week trip to the coastal Palestinian city.

"We changed our tickets like three to four times ... and then we decided to come to Gaza at this time," Abuzayda, 30, explained. "And our short vacation just turned into a nightmare."

As soon as she learned of the Hamas-led terrorist attack against Israel on Saturday, Abuzayda said she immediately tried to arrange her family's exit from the country.

Despite calling the US embassy several times a day since the war broke out, officials have been unable to rescue the family and they remain trapped with other relatives at Abuzayda's parents’ home in Gaza, where they lack electricity, food and supplies, for little Yousef.

"We tell them we're running out of milk, diapers, we're not safe, we're citizens — they're not doing anything," she said. "And in the meantime, they keep posting stuff about the US citizens in Israel. Every five minutes they keep reminding the people in Israel to get out of Israel."

As a mother, Abuzayda said she is trying her best to push aside her intense feelings of panic and uncertainty, and instead put on a brave face for her baby as the sounds of rapid gunfire and unrelenting bombings surround them.

"The hardest feeling ever is to hide your fear and show the opposite, just to keep my son positive," she said, according to the outlet. "Because he doesn't understand anything, he thinks this is fireworks.”

And "every time I tell him, while I'm crying, 'Clap, clap, this is fireworks, it's nothing.' Sometimes he will jump, he will be scared and freaking out if I'm not next to him,” Abuzayda explained.

It’s unclear when the family of three will be able to escape Gaza. But Abuzayda is continually pressing for help from the US government as the Israel-Hamas War enters its seventh day.

"Please, please save us," she pleaded, NPR reported. "Please. I have a one-and-a-half year old, I got him after six times of IVF [fertility treatment] ... We have been trying to call the embassy since Saturday. Nobody's helping, nobody's getting back to us. Please save us."

As of Thursday morning, at least 1,300 people had been killed in Israel, and at least another 1,354 had been killed in retaliatory strikes on Gaza, since Hamas terrorists launched a surprise blitz at a music festival over the weekend, according to officials.

At least 27 Americans are among the dead, while 14 citizens remain unaccounted for, according to the White House.