With humanitarian aid finally set to be allowed in to Gaza, Canadian families trapped in the region hope their loved ones can move out.
For nearly two weeks now, Canadians in the Gaza Strip caught in the war between Israel and Hamas have been stranded. Global Affairs Canada estimates roughly 35,000 Canadian citizens live in Israel. Since Israel declared war on Hamas on Sunday, more than 1,300 Canadians have left the country on military flights organized by the federal government.
In Gaza, as the death toll continues to rise, so too does the worry for Canadians trapped in the area, including seven members of one extended family waiting for a path home.
Salem Abuwarda told CTV National News his 11-year-old daughter Shanaz, his 15-year-old son Wasim and his wife Nisreen are all Canadian citizens and have been trying to leave Gaza for nearly two weeks.
He recently received a video from his 11-year-old daughter Shanaz, pleading for help.
"There is not enough food, there is not enough electricity and there is not enough water," Shenaz says in the video. "Please, please, please help us. I am very scared. I never can sleep at night, there are bombs everywhere. I want to go back to my home country, I dream to see my friends and my family."
Salem says it breaks his heart to hear his daughter distraught and afraid while he is unable to be there for her. He says his daughter is afraid to even use the bathroom because she thinks she will be bombed.
Salem says his family hears bombs every two minutes in Gaza and he fears for their safety—adding they stay away from the windows as much as possible, crowded with six other families in a building built for two.
Additionally, his brother Mouhammed's wife and three children are also stuck in Gaza.
"My son he is a strong son, but yesterday morning when he called me, crying, he said 'Dad, please help me. Dad, do something. Dad, call the government, do something. Dad, call my school, maybe my school can help me,'" Mouhammed told CTV National News.
"I said, 'Don't worry … everything will be OK.'"
Salem says the Canadian government should be doing more to get its people out of Gaza.
"They got the people from Israel. From West Bank. And how about the Canadians in Gaza Strip? They also Canadians, so you have to take care about them."
As Salem and Mouhammed feel fear and frustration for their loved ones, the violence in Gaza continues.
More than 30 bodies were recovered Thursday morning as near-constant bombings carried on in central parts of the territory.
In Gaza City, Tuesday's horrific hospital blast has put pressure on other medical facilities in the south to take in more patients.
In Nasser Hospital in Gaza, doctors are treating the injured by the light of cellphones, because power to the building is out. No power means doctors are unable to use ventilators and other life support systems.
Dr. Mohammad Qandeel, emergency director at Nasser Hospital, told CTV National News help is desperately needed.
"More kids, more children, more women will die and face death without any medical help," he said.
With files from The Canadian Press
