‘People are suffering’: Hundreds of Canadians still trapped in Gaza as first foreign nationals cross into Egypt

Ambulances carrying critically injured Palestinians left Gaza this morning, bound for hospitals in Egypt, part of a group that included more than 300 foreign nationals.

Aside from the four hostages released by Hamas, this is the first time in 26 days that civilians have been allowed to leave the besieged enclave.

In an update Wednesday night, Global Affairs Canada (GAC) said it was aware of reports that one Canadian citizen was able to leave the Palestinian territory at the border crossing with the help of a third party, but offered no further information.

It’s unclear when exactly the hundreds of other Canadians who are trapped in Gaza will be able to leave, but the federal department said it expects “further crossings daily over the coming days.” There are 459 Canadians in Gaza who have contacted Global Affairs Canada for help, GAC added.

Among the crowds left waiting at the border crossing between Egypt and Gaza, clinging to their luggage, were Canadian citizens such as Asil Shurab.

“We came here today to the Egyptian borders hoping to leave Gaza,” Shurab told the Associated Press.

Even though Shurab’s family knew they wouldn’t be allowed to leave today, they still travelled to the Rafah border crossing early in the morning on Wednesday in the hopes that this will change soon.

“We have little hope to leave and save our lives,” she said.

A deal among Israel, Egypt and Hamas allowed at least 320 foreign nationals out of an initial list of 500 to cross the border into Egypt on Wednesday, including citizens from Australia, France, the U.K. and the U.S. Around 81 wounded Palestinians were also evacuated, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

This first crack in a siege, which has stretched on for three weeks, comes at a time when life is becoming increasingly desperate for the 2.3 million Palestinians trapped in Gaza.

More than 8,800 people have been killed in Gaza, the majority of them women and children, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza. Israeli forces have been bombarding the narrow strip with aerial strikes ever since Oct. 7, when Hamas militants launched a surprise attack.

Around 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, most of them civilians slain in the Oct. 7 attack. In addition, Hamas took roughly 240 hostages from Israel.

For the second day in a row, Israeli airstrikes hit the Jabalia refugee camp near Gaza City on Wednesday, killing and injuring scores of people. Gaza officials say at least 195 Palestinians have died in the airstrikes.

Images from the devastation show residents gathering around massive craters full of grey rubble, ringed by the skeletons of blown-out buildings.

Covering an area of 1.4 square kilometres, Jabalia is the largest refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA). In July, more than 116,011 Palestinian refugees were registered with UNRWA in the camp, but it’s unknown how many people remained in the camp when the strikes occurred, as Palestinian civilians were ordered to evacuate south by Israeli forces.

Israel has claimed they are only directing attacks at military targets, stating that their Tuesday and Wednesday strikes have killed two Hamas commanders, according to Reuters.

Another widespread outage of internet and phone services in Gaza was also reported Wednesday morning, blackouts that humanitarian agencies say severely disrupt their ability to deliver aid.

“People are basically suffering,” Mansour Shouman told CTV National News. “I don’t know what else to say.”

Shouman is a Canadian in Gaza. He says every day is worse than the last.

“Hospitals are working 24/7, not being able to keep up with the influx of cases that they are receiving. Today, the Israelis tried to do another communication blackout in Gaza Strip, cutting all sorts of phone call and internet communication, however, this was restored a few hours ago,” he said.

“There’s over 200 schools filled with over one million refugees. We are fearful of disease being spread due to lack of hygiene and that these places are not set up for these circumstances.”

In a report issued Wednesday, UNRWA stated that more than 690,000 displaced Palestinians are currently seeking shelter in 149 UNRWA facilities across the Gaza Strip and that facilities are not able to keep up with the demand.

“People here are getting less and less food and water and access to fuel everyday,” Shouman said. “Gaza is surrounded from all sides, nothing is being allowed to enter, hence all the resources are being utilized without being allowed to replenish.”

Humanitarian aid has been slowly trickling into Gaza since Oct 21., when Israel first eased the strict siege of the region to allow some food, water and medical care to enter. According to OCHA, 10 trucks carrying aid crossed into Gaza on Wednesday, bringing the total number of trucks since Oct. 21 to 227. In normal times, more than 400 trucks go into Gaza daily through various crossings.

“There are hundreds of trucks waiting,” Shouman said. “Why are they not being let in?”

Shouman has been separated from his family to ensure their safety as he works to document what is happening inside Gaza. He says they’ve told him they don’t have direct access to clean water right now and have been filtering the water from wells near them. His wife uses wet wipes to clean their children.

He says many of the women are fasting, “trying to leave more food to the children.” Shouman himself eats one meal a day.

If it had been possible to safely evacuate to Canada at the beginning of the war, he would’ve left, he said.

“But now, given that the impact that the media is having, trying to get the media out in the English language in a way that the western world, the decision-makers, hopefully understand — not a lot of people in Gaza can play this role right now,” he said.

So he’s trying to be that voice, he said, spending his days sharing his experience with international media.

“If everyone like me decided to leave, then who would be left to help the people here?”

He’s doubtful that it would even be possible for him to leave.

“We had hope for the last 26 days, but given what’s happening now, I think the war will end and a ceasefire will happen before anyone else will be allowed to leave,” he said.

He said he was disappointed, but not surprised, when Canadians were not included in the list of foreign nationals permitted to leave Wednesday.

“In the beginning of the war, I had a little bit of hope and faith and trust that the Canadian government would do the right thing, not only in evacuating Canadians, but also to help evacuate anyone who wants to leave Gaza Strip,” he said.

He believes Canada could be doing more to help the civilians caught in the crossfire and calling for a ceasefire.

“History is currently being written,” he said. “Decades later, the grandchildren of Canadians will ask, ‘What did the Trudeau government do? What (was) the stance?’ Even if it was holding the right position and demanding a ceasefire, helping to find a peaceful resolution, even if it doesn’t result in an impact now, but at least they should have maintained such a position.”

An emergency session of the UN General Assembly passed a resolution last week to call for a humanitarian pause that would allow aid to enter Gaza and trapped civilians to escape.

Although Canada has backed calls for humanitarian pauses, Canada abstained from the final vote after the body rejected a Canada-led amendment which would’ve added language to formally condemn Hamas for its Oct. 7 attack.

Once Canadian citizens are able to make it through the Rafah crossing, GAC says they will provide documentation and onward travel to Canada. But exactly when Canadians will be able to cross to safety is still unclear.