Dutch family forced to leave Almere man in Gaza Strip; Another family trapped in Gaza City
A family among the 16 Dutch people who were able to flee the Gaza Strip and cross into Egypt on Thursday were forced to leave a cousin behind. Another family residing in the Netherlands has also been trapped in Gaza City. Those with Dutch ties who did manage to leave Gaza were expected to soon be transported to the Netherlands. Abed Hussein from Almere is not likely to be among them.
He was not on the list of the people allowed to cross the border. His current whereabouts are unknown, but his family thinks he stayed in the border area hoping for better news, they told AD. He is related to Ahmed Hussein, a 29-year-old man from Best, Noord-Brabant. At the end of September, he, his parents, three siblings, and their cousin Abed boarded a plane to travel to Gaza for his wedding, which was supposed to happen on Saturday, October 7.
The plan was to stay for the wedding and to visit family, and then return home later in October. But it never got that far. On the day of his wedding, the family woke up to the news that Hamas and Israel were at war.
Since then, the family has been stuck in the Gaza Strip, expecting to be killed at any moment, they told AD. The supermarkets were open, but empty. The water had run out. There was no showering or flushing the toilet. There was no electricity, and they could only occasionally charge their phones at a nearby mosque. “People keep being shot at from the air,” Ahmed said to the newspaper before their escape. “We hardly sleep; we are very scared. Planes fly overhead all the time. We are on the phone with you now, but we could be dead in five minutes.”
On Thursday, they found out that they could escape and cross into Egypt. Ahmed, his brothers Tamer from Almere, Wael from Gorinchem, and Hussam from Uithoorn, and their parents Mahmoud and Fatma from Best were all on the list to cross the border. But cousin Abed from Almere was not. He had to stay behind. The family has “no idea how this could have happened.”
Abed’s wife and children are in the Netherlands and are devastated. They hope that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will do everything in its power to get him out of the Gaza Strip and home as quickly as possible.
Ouda family, including two young children, trapped in Gaza City
Foreign Affairs Minister Hanke Bruins Slot confirmed on X that a total of 16 Dutch nationals, people with Dutch residency, and their immediate family members were able to leave Gaza on Thursday. There were 20 people in total on an eligibility list for Thursday, and no Dutch people were included on Friday's list.
The four people who did not get to the border are believed to be Alaa Ouda, his wife, Rawan, and their two young children, three-year-old Hasan and one-year-old Eman. They are stuck in Gaza City, said Ouda, a former TU Delft student, in an interview with Trouw. They were at his parents' home in an area being hit by air raids, and where all exits on the ground have been blocked by the Israeli military, making it questionable if they can get to the border without being shot, he said.
“It's terrifying,” he told the newspaper. “The attacks are becoming more and more intensive. But it is not always clear where the bombs will fall. Gaza City is a concrete jungle with interconnected houses. We spend a lot of time in the hallway, far away from the windows. We hold each other there until the bombardment stops. It's all we can do.”
They initially traveled to Gaza so that their youngest child could finally meet Ouda's parents in person. Alaa had not been in Gaza for nearly a decade, and this trip was supposed to be a short visit. When the war broke out, the family followed Dutch advisory statements and tried to leave the Gaza Strip at the border with Egypt, but when bomb blasts also happened there, they decided to return to Gaza City.
“There is a scarcity of everything,” said Ouda. “We no longer have milk powder for Eman. Sometimes there are no water bottles, and we drink small amounts of contaminated water from the tap. A few days ago I stood in line for seven hours for bread, and it was gone when it was my turn. We adults are already on rations. As long as we can feed the children.” Soon after, Ouda cut the phone call short when more bomb blasts were heard in the background.
Dutch citizens and residents to be brought back to the Netherlands
Those who did manage to cross Gaza's border into Egypt were transported to the Dutch embassy in Cairo where they can be provided with consular services, social services, or care. From there, they are expected to be brought back to the Netherlands on Saturday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Friday.
A total of 14 other Dutch citizens and residents of the Netherlands are still known to be in the Gaza Strip, the ministry said in an update on Friday. This includes the four who were on Thursday's list but did not cross the border.
Bruins Slot stressed that they were doing “the utmost” to help the Dutch people still trapped in the region. “My heart goes out to Dutch nationals who are currently still in Gaza. We maintain close contact with them in these uncertain times,” Bruins Slot said.
