A family from Medway, Massachusetts, stuck in Gaza for three weeks is still alive but desperately searching for a way out as the war continues to escalate.
Abood Okal and Wafaa Abuzayda were visiting family in northern Gaza with their one-year-old son Yousef when Hamas launched a surprise attack in Israel on October 7. Despite assurances from federal and state leaders that an evacuation plan is in the works, the Medway family is still waiting.
Family friend Sammy Nabulsi shared with NBC10 Boston on Saturday an audio recording of Okal in which the Medway father says they barely slept Friday night as they tried to stay alive as they made their way to safety waited.
“We all huddled together, so tightly that if something unforeseen were to happen, at least we would all suffer the same fate. We stayed together or basically disappeared together,” Okal said. “Every night we try to squeeze Yousef between us. That way, if the house is targeted for some reason, or if there’s a bombing nearby and flying debris or shattered glass finds its way through, he would at least be protected to some degree.
“Last night was probably the hardest for us since the start of the war,” he added.
Abood Okal and Wafaa Abuzayda were visiting family with their one-year-old son Yousef when Hamas launched a surprise attack in Israel on October 7.
According to Okal, the family’s food supplies have been fine since their last run, but access to drinking water is becoming increasingly difficult. He said they rely on local providers or filter stations, but in recent days they have heard that fuel supplies are almost exhausted.
“We’ll try again today to go out and get some drinking water when we feel it’s safe enough to go outside,” he said.
According to Okal, they have not yet received official information from the U.S. State Department about when they expect to leave Gaza and make their way back to state safety.
“We remain confident that they are working on our behalf, as we have been told in the past. We remain hopeful that it will happen one day. That’s what we tell ourselves. This is the only way we can move forward,” he said. “If we lose that hope or believe otherwise, we could end up in a very dark situation psychologically, so we try to stay strong and live another day.”
President Joe Biden previously released a statement saying they will “continue to work around the clock in partnership with Egypt and Israel to enable U.S. citizens and their immediate families to safely leave Gaza and enter through Egypt.” to travel to their final destination.” “
During a news conference on Thursday, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller acknowledged that “a number” of civilians have died in Gaza and that they are “doing everything possible” to “minimize harm to civilians.”
Despite assurances from politicians that there would be an evacuation plan, a local family remains stranded in the Gaza Strip as the war between Israel and Hamas rages around them.
Israel expanded its ground operation in Gaza on Saturday, sending tanks and infantry backed by massive air and sea strikes. The bombardment, described by Gazans as the heaviest of the war, has also crippled most communications in Gaza and signaled a gradual buildup to what is expected to be a full-scale ground offensive in northern Gaza.
“We have entered the next phase of the war,” Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in a speech broadcast on Saturday. “Last night the ground in Gaza shook. We attacked above ground and underground. … The instructions to the emergency services are clear. The campaign will continue until further notice.”
The Palestinian death toll in Gaza rose Saturday to just over 7,700 people since Oct. 7, with 377 deaths reported since late Friday and an estimated 1,700 people still trapped under the rubble, according to the territory’s health ministry. The majority of those killed were women and minors, the ministry said.
The World Health Organization appealed to “the humanity of all who have the power to end the fighting now” in Gaza.
Israel expanded its operations in Gaza on Saturday, sending in tanks and infantry.
Across the Gaza Strip, frightened civilians crowded into homes and shelters as food and water supplies dwindled. In the early stages of the war, Israel cut off electricity.
More than 1.4 million people have fled their homes, with nearly half crowding into UN schools and shelters, after the Israeli military repeatedly warned that they would be in grave danger if they remained in the northern Gaza Strip.
The military renewed those warnings on Saturday in the form of leaflets dropped over Gaza. Large numbers of residents have not been evacuated to the south, in part because Israel has also bombed targets in so-called safe zones where conditions are becoming increasingly dire.
The Associated Press contributed to this report