Parents of Calgary man arrive in city after escaping violence in Gaza

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Fleeing to Calgary from the death and destruction of Gaza was an emotional release for Ossama Zaqqout and his elderly parents who finished their trip on Saturday.

But the arrival in the city of the first of the Gazans sponsored by families fleeing the conflict is just the first lap in an agonizing race against tragedy, the Calgarian said.

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“It’s a great day; they are very happy to go out because the terrible situation in Gaza was unbearable,” Zaqqout said, adding that in recent days his parents and other relatives narrowly escaped an Israeli bombardment in the south of the Palestinian enclave.

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“But it’s bittersweet, it’s a little bit of a relief, but the amount of worry and stress to get the remaining people out is enormous.”

His parents, Abdulfatah, 70, and mother Intisar, 69, are among the 36 people Zaqqout’s family hopes to bring from Gaza to Canada.

A weary Abdulfatah said he is grateful for the help of the Canadian government and those in this country in allowing them to come to Calgary, but said he hopes other loved ones will follow in his footsteps.

Speaking in Arabic with translation from his son, Abdulfatah described Gaza that has been under Israeli blockade for 17 years as a long-besieged place that is now a death trap.

“Even before October 7 there was so much poverty and suffering… after the war it became more difficult with the (Israeli) bombings without warning… we had to be displaced several times,” said the man who was received by about 30 supporters. .

“Israel claimed that (where we sought refuge) was safe, but it wasn’t.”

Sixteen other members of his family arrived in Egypt after paying a fee of $5,000 per person to agents linked to the Egyptian government, he said.

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TO GoFundMe campaign He has raised $125,000 to get his relatives out of Gaza, but much more is needed to help others flee and support them afterward, the younger Zaqqout said.

Other family members and friends are desperately crying out for release from Israeli attacks that Gaza health authorities say have killed more than 34,000 people, he said.

“We get calls from them almost every day asking ‘when are we getting out,’ begging me to get them out, but I don’t have the means,” he said.

“It’s been affecting my mental well-being for a long time.”

Families in Canada are also worried about the prospect of a final Israeli offensive in the populous southern tip of Gaza, where many refugees are hiding.

A brother, a photojournalist who covered part of the conflict, and his family now have visas and are expected to arrive in Calgary in mid-May, said Zaqqout, 38.

His parents visited Calgary in the summer of 2023 and returned to Gaza, he said, two months before Hamas militants attacked southern Israel last October, killing nearly 1,200 people and taking another 230 hostage.

They were forced to leave their home in Gaza City and fled Israeli attacks several times before finally leaving the territory.

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Last week, two of Zaqqout’s children were killed in an Israeli bombing, while his wife lost 11 of her relatives, said the Calgarian, who has lived in Canada for five years.

“I have lost count of the number of friends, colleagues and family members who have died in this war,” he said.

Zaqqout, who worked as a nurse in Gaza, also wonders if her former co-workers will be unearthed in mass graves discovered outside two of the enclave’s hospitals following Israeli attacks on them. The Israelis said they were searching for Hamas militants who they said had been hiding in hospitals.

“Now I fear that some of my former colleagues, nurses, are in those graves; some have disappeared since the assault,” he said.

While family members who have escaped Gaza have been receiving visas from the Canadian government, Zaqqout said Ottawa should be more proactive and efficient in allowing that exodus, a process that has made it much easier for those fleeing other conflicts.

He said they have received no financial support from the government and have forced families to resort to paying exorbitant fees for their loved ones’ escapes.

And Zaqqout said Ottawa has been dealing with less cooperative Israeli authorities on this issue when it is the Egyptians who control the border in Rafah, Gaza.

“The program is more flexible now, improvements have been made, but they are not enough,” he said.

Ottawa has set a limit of 1,000 people it will allow into the country from Gaza under a family reunification program, a number those affected by the war say is woefully small.

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X (Twitter) @BillKaufmannjrn

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