Indian woman seeks evacuation from Gaza as Israel intensifies attack on Hamas
She had asked for help from the Representative office of India in Ramallah which said the situation constrains their options
Trapped and unable to escape, an Indian woman living in Gaza with her family on Tuesday sought their immediate evacuation from the Hamas-ruled enclave now being pounded by the Israeli Air Force.
“We are facing a brutal war and everything is being destroyed in a matter of seconds. We are paying the price as civilians are being targeted,” Lubna Nazir Shaboo, an Indian from Jammu and Kashmir, told PTI over the phone from Gaza.
The Israel-Hamas conflict has claimed at least 1,600 lives on both sides since the Palestinian group launched a multi-pronged attack on Israel.
The death toll includes 788 killed and 4,100 injured in Gaza. “The sounds of bombardment are too scary. The whole house shakes. It is a very, very scary situation,” Shaboo said.
Shaboo, who lives with her husband Nedal Toman and youngest daughter Karima, said water supply to Gaza had been cut off in addition to electricity. Her two elder children study in Cairo.
Internet connection in Gaza is also poor and only those with their limited net packs are able to establish contact with people outside.
The Kashmiri woman said that she hadn't seen anything like this before. She added that two more families are living with them after escaping bombings in the border areas of Gaza.
“We are not able to go anywhere because there is no safe place for us. Gaza is too small and it is closed from every side. There are no exit points,” Lubna said.
She said she had asked for help from the Representative office of India in Ramallah which said the situation on the ground “constrains our options”. The only exit route from Gaza, the Rafah crossing with Egypt, was shut down on Monday.
(With agency inputs)