For the married couple, the situation is becoming precarious. There is little food, drink and not least medicine to get hold of in the Gaza Strip. Zaki Kahil, who has diabetes, says he is out of medicine now. His wife Rona is epileptic and also needs medicine. The hygienic conditions in Gaza have also become terrible without water, he says. – And what are we going to do with food? I don’t know how long we can hold out. We lack everything. I haven’t showered in many weeks, said Kahil when news spoke to him on Wednesday. – Our situation is very bad. Has the Ministry of Foreign Affairs done enough to help, he asks rhetorically. – We have good contact with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but they do not have any information for us. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs replies to news that they are very concerned about how Norwegian citizens are doing. See the full answer at the bottom of the case. The couple went on holiday to Gaza, but now they cannot get out of the war-torn area. Photo: Privat Going on holiday In September, he and his wife Rola went from Mortensrud on a long-awaited holiday to Gaza. Kahil was born and raised there, but moved to Norway in 2008. The holiday to Gaza was the first since 2014 and the plan was to return to Norway on 15 October. But the couple never got that far. On October 7, Hamas attacked the civilian population in Israel, killing a total of 1,400 people. On October 8, Israel responded by declaring a state of war. Search crews search for survivors after an Israeli attack in Khan Yunis on October 25. Photo: MAHMUD HAMS / AFP Since then, Gaza’s borders have been closed, with the exception of when a few trucks with emergency aid drove in via the border crossing with Egypt. In addition, Israel has bombed the Gaza Strip. More than 7,000 people have since been killed, according to Hamas-controlled Palestinian health authorities in Gaza. On Thursday, the Israeli army also reports that it has used tanks inside the Gaza Strip in “targeted raids” on the night of Thursday. – How would you describe your situation? – I’m still alive, says Zaki Kahil dryly. – If you ask people on the streets here in Gaza about it, that’s what they say. But the situation is very difficult. Zaki Kahil has lost several family members, but so far he and his wife have avoided being hit in the attacks. Photo: Privat Venn lost his family So far they have avoided being hit by the bombs, but on 8 October his brother’s house was hit. The brother was not at home, but two nephews were killed in the attack. Only one has been buried, the other has not been found in the ruins. – Yesterday my closest friend lost his entire immediate family. He rented an apartment in Rafah, says Zaki. – And today I got a call from my niece who said that they had bombed the house. – No one can know when we will die, or when we will be found in the ruins, he concludes. There are supposed to be around 200 Norwegian citizens in the Gaza Strip. At least half of these are children. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that Norwegians have been injured in Gaza. But they do not say anything about how many Norwegians are injured, or how badly they are injured. Do not feel safe Now he and his wife live in a building in Rafah, south of Gaza, which a friend of his owns. He estimates that between 180 and 200 other people have sought refuge in the building. This is how it is in several places in Gaza, where the houses are filled with people who are left without a place to live. The Israeli authorities have asked the Palestinians to move from north to south for their own safety, but Zaki Kahil says that there are airstrikes in the south all the time. – Several times bombs have fallen close to us. Kahil says they don’t feel safe. – I don’t know how long we can hold out, he says. Now an impatient Zaki Kahil is asking for more help from the Norwegian authorities. He knows that the situation is difficult to handle, but the couple have four children in Norway whom they have not seen for many weeks. – Are they (the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) able to save our lives or not? They don’t have an answer to that, he says. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs replies in an e-mail to news that a main priority is to contribute to all Norwegian citizens being able to travel abroad as soon as possible. – But right now all the borders to Gaza are closed. No one gets out and very little emergency help comes in, writes communications advisor Ragnhild Håland Simenstad in the Foreign Ministry. She adds that they are working intensively through diplomatic channels, among other things to get a humanitarian break and for emergency aid to enter Gaza. – We use all the contacts we have to demand a humanitarian break, said Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre in Dagsrevyen on Wednesday.
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– I don’t know how long we can hold out – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
