'Just so much terror': Toronto mother of 2 living in Gaza desperate to be evacuated amid Israel-Hamas war
A Toronto mother of two young children living in Gaza says she’s desperate to be evacuated as the Israel-Hamas war wages on and the possibility of a ground offensive intensifies.
“The Canadian government does not have yet a plan to take us out and that's just so scary,” Asia Mathkour told CP24 in an emotional interview on Thursday.
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“Tell me what to do, tell us Canadians what to do here on the ground, please tell me.”
Originally from Toronto, Mathkour has been living in the region since 2014 and said she and her two children have already been evacuated five times following Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel Saturday which left more than 1,000 people dead.
Since then, Israeli military have hit the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip with airstrikes and cut off food deliveries, water, fuel and electricity to the area.
“There's no electricity. We are running on shortages of food, water…Honestly, there's just so much it's happening. Just so much terror,” Mathkour said, adding that she's trying to "distract" her children from the reality of the situation as best she can.
"When bombings happen, we just cuddle or go underneath something in a safe area in the house," she said.
Meanwhile, hospitals in Gaza are at a “breaking point,” according to a statement issued by the World Health Organization Thursday.
“Time is running out to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe if fuel and life-saving health and humanitarian supplies cannot be urgently delivered to the Gaza Strip amidst the complete blockade,” the WHO said. Israel has said it won't allow aid to flow until Hamas releases some 150 hostages taken after Saturday’s attack.
The first two evacuation flights operated by the Canadian Armed Forces carrying some 281 Canadians and their families left Israel on Thursday.
However, because there is no humanitarian corridor in Gaza, airlifts in that area are not currently possible.
“If the Canadian government has a plan, to tell me what to do, tell us Canadians what to do here on the ground, please tell me. Nobody has a plan,” Mathkour pleaded.
According to the federal government, there are some 70 Canadians stuck in the Gaza Strip that have asked for help.
Speaking on Thursday, senior government officials said at least two evacuation flights per day are expected to continue taking off from Tel Aviv.
In the meantime, the Canadian government says it continues to look at additional options for those who cannot get to Tel Aviv to board an evacuation flight.
On Wednesday, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly confirmed that two Canadians are confirmed dead, and a third is presumed dead in Israel.
The death toll from Israeli strikes on Gaza has risen to 1,537, with 6,612 people wounded, the Gaza-based Health Ministry reported Thursday.
Of those killed, 276 were women and 500 were under the age of 18, the ministry said.
With files from The Associated Press
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