How thousands of Gazans became stranded in Israel when war started

Geoff Bennett:

The morning Hamas terrorists launched their attack on Israel, there were thousands of innocent Gazan civilians inside Israel working day jobs or seeking medical care.

When the war started and the border crossing closed, they were left stranded. Now, they have been told to go back to Gaza, but it's not clear how or when that can happen.

Leila Molana-Allen has the story.

Leila Molana-Allen:

Displaced and desperate. Gazan patients and their families who came to Israel for medical care before the war now spend their days begging for news of their loved ones back home.

Raji is 11. He came to Jerusalem for surgery in late September to give him back the sight in his left eye. He still doesn't know if it worked, but, in the meantime, his world turned upside down. His father and siblings no longer safe at home.

Raji Ashour, Gazan Patient (through interpreter):

My father was injured and our house was destroyed. They fired a rocket at our house.

Leila Molana-Allen:

Thirty-nine-year-old Nisreen was in Jerusalem for breast cancer treatment when the terror attacks happened. Her treatment is finished, but she's been stuck here ever since.

Back in Gaza, her three young children are still at home trapped under the bombardment of unrelenting airstrikes. Lina and Youssef are 8 and 6. Mohammad is just 2.

Nisreen Faqawi, Patient (through interpreter):

They are civilians who are not guilty, innocent children. What did they do? In previous wars, we were together. They were hugging me and telling me that, "We are afraid." Today, I am not with them.

Leila Molana-Allen:

Several times a day, she tries to reach them. Sometimes, the line connects. Sometimes, it doesn't.

Nisreen Faqawi (through interpreter):

I never know, are they alive or not? They are very afraid. I am their mother. I blame myself. I wish I had died and not come here.

Leila Molana-Allen:

This time, she's got through.

Nisreen Faqawi (through interpreter):

Hello, my love. How are you, Youssef? Are you happy? What are you doing? Are you playing, darling? Don't be afraid. You are my hero.

There, this is our life. Over and over and over again, it comes, and they don't understand what's happening. They're just children.

Leila Molana-Allen:

Watching the devastation of her home unfold, powerless, Nisreen feels she is losing her mind.

Nisreen Faqawi (through interpreter):

We have reached the point where children write their names on their hands, so that they can be identified when they're killed. How much more can we take?

Leila Molana-Allen:

After we visited the hospital yesterday, Jerusalem police raided the ward, removing the patients and their families.

Israeli authorities later announced all Gazans in Israel would be deported. Movement for Palestinians from both Gaza and the West Bank is heavily restricted even in peacetime. They can only enter Israel for medical care or for work with very special, limited permits.

On the 7th of October, there were nearly 6,000 Gazan workers in Israel. As soon as the attacks happened, their permits were immediately revoked. So, they couldn't stay in Israel, but they couldn't go back to Gaza either. Their only option was to seek refuge in Palestinian cities in the West Bank.

Here in Jericho, 1,500 workers are taking temporary shelter in university and police buildings. The Palestinian Authority is doing what it can to help them, but is overwhelmed. Gaza's unemployment is among the highest in the world.

Ibrahim wanted to make a better life for his kids. The morning of the attacks, his work permit was taken away and his salary not paid. Last week, his sister and four of her children were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Central Gaza.

Ibrahim Al-Zayegh, Palestinian (through interpreter):

For more than two days, they were under the rubble. She was holding her children, but no one was able to save her.

Leila Molana-Allen:

Ibrahim's wife and kids are sheltering near al-Quds hospital in Gaza City. This week, the IDF ordered the hospital to be evacuated, but the wounded and homeless staying there say they have nowhere else to go.

Ibrahim Al-Zayegh (through interpreter):

Since yesterday, my children have not eaten bread or water. They have nothing. Our bodies are here, but our minds and hearts are in Gaza. I hate the night. I pray to God it will remain daytime, because the night is a torment for them there.

Leila Molana-Allen:

For now, Ibrahim just wants to get home to his family. If they survive the war, he knows the road ahead will be long.

Ibrahim Al-Zayegh (through interpreter):

We can all see what's happening. Gaza will need 20 years to rebuild.

Leila Molana-Allen:

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Leila Molana-Allen in Jericho, the West Bank.