Waiting for authorization to leave the Gaza Strip, Palestinian with Brazilian citizenship Hasan Rabeen reports on the drama in the south of the Gaza Strip. Anxiety and distress increase as access to food and water decreases.
Rabeen is part of the group that asked for repatriation to Brazil. “It’s already 12:15 and we haven’t eaten anything yet. Let’s eat at 2pm so we can only have one snack for the day,” she said in a message sent to CNN .
In the early hours of this Monday (16), information circulated that the Rafah crossing, on the Gaza border with Egypt, would be reopened. However, authorization for the evacuation of foreigners through Egyptian territory did not materialize.
“My wife is really bad. We were dying to travel today,” wrote Rabeen. “It’s difficult to find a way out. It’s already 12:27 pm. This is very late local time. The chance (of leaving) is very little,” she lamented.
Naturalized Brazilian in 2019, Hasan Rabeen is with his wife at his sister’s house in Khan Yunis. In the city, which is in the south of Gaza, there are ten other Brazilians staying at family homes.
The Brazilian Representation in Palestine has already made a bus available so that, as soon as the border opens, the group can be taken to Rafah, where the other Brazilians are waiting. The journey between the two cities is 25 minutes.
Brazil is currently working to remove a group of 32 people from the conflict area on the Palestinian side. There are 22 Brazilians, seven Palestinians with a temporary visa or residence permit visa and three more Palestinians who are close relatives of these Brazilians.
“It’s sad. Just me and my wife are going. I’m leaving my mother and sisters because they don’t have Brazilian citizenship or passports to travel. I’m leaving them, but I don’t know if I’ll find them again because Israel is cleaning up the people here,” says Rabeen.
A CNN Brazil’s ambassador to Egypt, Paulino Franco de Carvalho Neto, said that the reality regarding the opening of the Rafah crossing is still very complex and involves variables that are not controllable.
“The reality is still very complex. There are many variables that, obviously, we do not control”, stated the ambassador.
The Brazilian Embassy is in Cairo, but at this time, the ambassador and a team of four people traveled to Ismailia, 250 kilometers from Rafah. They will monitor the negotiations and support the removal of Brazilians from Gaza. A Brazilian Air Force (FAB) plane waits in Rome, Italy, to take off at any time for Cairo.
“Our absolute priority is to remove the Brazilians, but for them and other foreign citizens to leave Gaza there must be an understanding between three fundamental actors: Israel, Egypt and the de facto authorities in Gaza, which is Hamas,” said the ambassador .
The negotiations are for the departure of foreigners, the arrival of humanitarian aid in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas.
Source: CNN Brasil
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