A Michigan man recounted the fear and desperation he and his wife faced while trying to flee Gaza amid the war between Israel and Hamas. Zakaria Alarayshi of suburban Detroit told reporters Wednesday that he and Laila Alarayshi hunkered down at a home as bombs exploded nearby. Food and water was scarce, as was electricity.
DEARBORN, Mich. — A Detroit-area couple trapped in Gaza like hundreds of other U.S. citizens described the roar of bombs and the fear of not making it home after the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.“I was crying,” Zakaria Alarayshi, 62, told reporters Wednesday at the Arab American Civil Rights League offices in Dearborn, Michigan. “Everyone was scared. Bombs everywhere. When I go to sleep, we cannot sleep. Maybe I’ll sleep in a chair for 30 minutes a day.
Sleep was scant, as was water and food. Often they only had cake to eat and tea to drink. There was no electricity.Alarayshi said he was unable to get answers from U.S. officials and reached out to the Arab American Civil Rights League for help. Reaching safety was exasperating. About a half-dozen times they were denied entry into Egypt, said James Allen, Arab American Civil Rights League chair.
“The first list that came out of citizens that were allowed to leave included Zakaria but did not include Laila,” Allen said. “Being the man that he is, he wasn’t going to leave his wife in harm’s way.”More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, most of them in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that started the fighting, and 242 hostages were taken from Israel into Gaza by the militant group.
“I’m happy to be here. Just all my mind is back home with my kids and my family,” Zakaria Alarayshi said.
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