Indian woman evacuated from Gaza reaches Cairo; looking forward to coming home

Jerusalem/Cairo, Nov 16 (PTI) After being evacuated from war-torn Hamas-ruled Gaza with the help of Indian missions in the region, Lubna Nazir Shaboo is now looking forward to her homeward journey from Cairo to Kashmir.

Lubna, an Indian from Jammu & Kashmir living in Gaza, and her daughter Karima had crossed the Rafah border on Monday evening and reached the Egyptian capital the next day.

“I safely crossed over from Gaza at the Rafah border and am now awaiting my return to Kashmir,” Lubna Nazir Shaboo told PTI from Cairo.

She said the return journey plan was in the works.

She profusely thanked the Indian diplomatic missions in the region -- in Ramallah, Tel Aviv, and Cairo -- for making the evacuation possible from the war-torn area. Soon after the Hamas-Israel conflict broke out on October 7, Lubna reached out to PTI on October 10 seeking help.

Lubna’s one son and one daughter have been studying in Cairo.

Soon after she reached Cairo, the Indian Embassy in Cairo tweeted along with a photo of the Indian ambassador to Egypt Ajit Gupte with Lubna and her daughter: “Amb @AjitVGupte received Mrs Lubna Nazir Shaboo, Indian national who has just arrived safely in Cairo, after being evacuated from Gaza. She and her family are in good health. Mrs Lubna expressed deep gratitude to @indembcairo, @indemtel and @ROIRamallah for their assistance (sic).” She also shared a video with PTI, which she had recorded at the Rafah border after reaching the Egyptian side.

“The situation was too bad in Gaza. We did not have water, electricity or internet and the telecommunication was too bad. We went through a very bad phase over there. The situation is worsening day by day. There are people who are dying every day and there are people who are injured and there are dead people who are also lying under the debris.” “There is a scarcity of everything. Food supplies, medicines. There is no medical care. Hospitals are out of service. Bombardment is happening everywhere,” she said in the video and added: “I hope that this video will reach the people and it will convey the message that Gaza is getting choked by every second.” “There is no phone, there is no electricity. There is no internet and on Thursday, they are going to declare Gaza to be out of any telecommunication service. There will be no communication anymore. And we will not be knowing what is going on in Gaza anymore. Gaza is in a very bad situation (sic),” she described.

Narrating the conditions in the Gaza Strip, pounded by Israel after the October 7 Hamas attack, and how babies, children, women, and civilians in general have been killed, Lubna said, “We don’t know what more is going to happen in the coming days. There is hope that this thing will stop at once and pray for peace in this place.” More than 11,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip since Israel began retaliatory attacks after the initial Hamas attack killed over 1200 Israelis. PTI