“We’ve been in contact with the Lebanese Embassy in Egypt for over a month trying to get my Lebanese mother out of Gaza, but so far nothing has happened,” said Mohammed Abu Ras, son of Khadija Mohammed Reda, a Lebanese from the town of Markaba in southern Lebanon, who has been stranded in Gaza since the beginning of the war, to Daraj, after the Al-Aqsa Flood operation carried out by Hamas on October 7, 2023.

Khadija Reda has been married to a Palestinian from Gaza since 1995, and she became a resident of the northern part of the Strip. However, she was displaced with her husband and children due to the continuous and intense shelling on Al Amal Hospital in Khan Yunis, which has been besieged by Israel for over ten days and where her son Salem Abu Ras works as part of the Palestinian Red Crescent.

The battles in Khan Yunis between Hamas and the Israeli army have been intense, and it is clear that Israel does not intend to withdraw from it before imposing total control over the area. Therefore, Gaza’s residents were forced to evacuate again from Khan Yunis, which Israel claimed was a safe area at the beginning of the war, to Rafah, which shares its borders with Egypt.

Today, the Abu Ras family lives in a tent in one of the areas in Rafah, and this is all Mohammed knows about his family’s whereabouts, he tells Daraj,  due to the difficulty of communicating with them as he resides in Belgium. All ten of the family members are awaiting a signal from the Lebanese Embassy in Egypt.

The Lebanese Embassy: The Problem Lies with Israel

Mohammed, along with his brother Salem, has been trying to contact the Lebanese Embassy since December. Even their cousin residing in Lebanon reached out to the embassy via email, and she was asked to send all the data on December 17. Yet, they have received nothing but vague responses so far. The family is trying to communicate with someone inside the embassy, who simply responds with: “Wait for the embassy.” However, Mohammed stated that he hasn’t received any contact from the Lebanese Embassy since the beginning of the war to inform him about the well-being of his family members, whether they are alive, injured, or safe.

The Lebanese Embassy claims that Israel is hindering the exit of Lebanese citizens from Gaza, which was affirmed by the Lebanese Ambassador to Egypt, Ali Al Halabi, during a phone call with Daraj. He stated that he is in touch with the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, which insists each time that Israel refuses the passage of Lebanese to Egypt, without knowing the reason behind this decision. The latest response Al Halabi received from the Egyptian Foreign Ministry was that there were “no promises” they could make.

This issue may seem strange, especially as Israel seeks to empty Gaza of its inhabitants, hence why it is destroying, killing, and pushing people to migrate from north to south, and from there to Egypt in preparation for the “transfer” plan proposed by Israel to the Egyptian government in exchange for paying part of its debts, meaning it is in Israel’s interest to evacuate Gaza to bring it under its control.

Moreover, Mohammed expressed his astonishment because he has been in contact, for example, with one of the tourism companies to get his family out of Gaza. They asked him for $10,000 per person to safely exit the sector and cross the Rafah crossing normally. He added, “If you tell me there’s an issue with nationality and Israel isn’t agreeing, how is it, that at the same time, there are people leaving for money regardless of their nationality?”

The Journey to the Crossing

Getting to the Rafah crossing is not easy. Even before the war, and despite its opening and closing at specified times for the evacuation of dual nationals and foreigners, there is a series of procedures to be followed before crossing into Egypt.

First, an agreement must be reached with the Israeli government regarding the names supposed to move through the crossing. Names must be approved according to the provided data, and those whose names are not approved are not allowed to cross, according to both Al Halabi and Mohammed.

After completing the first stage, the crossing appointment is scheduled, and names and identities are checked. If Israel agrees, they cross, but if not, they may face death or arrest.

Survival or Death

Thirty-three Lebanese individuals have registered their information with the Lebanese Embassy in Cairo, and with their families, the number rises to 104, according to Al Halabi, but there is no accurate census of the number of Lebanese residents in Gaza, even before the war.

Mohammed’s Tunisian friend contacted his embassy after Mohammed’s family contacted the Lebanese embassy. And while Mohammed’s family received no proper responses, his friend was evacuated shortly after, despite the lack of a peace agreement between Israel and Tunisia, indicating that the problem does not lie in the lack of communication or agreement with Israel, for example.

The Israeli army destroyed the homes of the Abu Ras family in the northern Gaza Strip, leaving nothing but some memories. As for Mohammed, who grew up in the streets of the neighborhood and was forced to leave as a refugee to Belgium seeking a better life, he said with a lump in his throat: “There’s nothing left,” emphasizing that his mother will not leave Gaza without her family, if she manages to leave at all.