Families in Gaza cannot be reached

By Sr. Nina Benedikta Krapić, VMZ

Contacts with some people in Gaza have been cut off for three days now. There’s no internet or electricity in the war-hit area, so family members who managed to leave Gaza, cannot reach the family members who still live in the enclave.

We spoke to Hanadi Abuteir who migrated from Gaza to Europe. Safety was the main reason why she decided to leave her home and her family few years ago. She migrated to Croatia with her son. 

Her sister decided to stay in Gaza. Today she lives there with her three children in the city of Khan Younes.

Since the war conflicts got worse, Hanadi still managed to reach them, but for a few days now there’s no news on her family.

“We don't have any contact at this moment. We are now scared and afraid, and we just pray at this moment. We don't know if they're alive or not.”

The last conversation with her family in Gaza was in tears, “they told us: this is maybe the last moment we are alive because this is not life”, shares Hanadi.

Her family has no electricity, water or food, “no one can live there at this moment”, she says.

No humanitarian aid

Humanitarian aid still cannot reach all people in need in Gaza. The limited aid that was allowed to be delivered through the border crossing with Egypt was not sufficient.

Aid never reached Hanadis’ sister and her children in Khan Younes.

There’s no one to help them, everyone left their homes, houses got bombarded, says Hanadi. But her sister never left, simply because there’s no safe place to go to.

“No place in Gaza is safe now. And this is the problem. Anyone can die” stresses Hanadi.

Pope Francis appeals to ceasefire

Pope Francis has called for a ceasefire in the Holy Land, on 29 October, during his Sunday Angelus.

The Holy Father invited everyone to "continue to pray ... for the serious situation in Palestine and Israel". In particular, he asked that humanitarian aid be allowed to enter Gaza and that all hostages be freed.  

“Just pray for us. Stop this war. Women and kids should leave. They did nothing”, urges Hanadi.

“At this moment, the thing we can do is just to pray”, she concluded.