More than 2,000 Palestinian refugees have made their way to Australia since the war in Gaza began in October last year. While relieved to have made it out, many are deeply pained by the fact they are now safe while many of their friends and family are not.
At the Islamic College of Brisbane in the city's south, three families sit around the kind of large circular tables you get at every school function.
He was an institutional development consultant while his wife Nevin worked for the local water authority."Our life was very good, very nice. We are educated also, me and my wife holding master's degrees," he said.One of the first rounds of Israeli air strikes on Gaza City, following the Hamas terror attacks on Israel, destroyed the family car parked out the front of their building."My daughter came and woke me up and was very scared.
They would spend many weeks living in tents, waiting for a visa application to Australia to be processed."Each day we have to wake up to cut off the roots of trees and start to search for water.Desperate to get out, Amer said he eventually bribed Egyptian border officials the equivalent of more than $26,000 to get his family's application put through."The following morning, we went to the border crossing at Rafah, and thank God we succeeded to get out of Gaza.
The family travelled to Rafah and lived on blankets and wooden chairs while they waited for their turn to cross into Egypt. "I'm very lucky to have joined this country, but still my feeling is very bad my people," Tamer said."My family and my wife's family — her father, mother, brother, sisters — are all in Gaza, and it was very impactful on her while she was pregnant … and I was very afraid."Fifty-year-old Shahrazad Haseera and her 14-year-old son Nidal are also trying to adjust to life in Brisbane.
"Nidal's friend was hit in the head by shrapnel from the explosions. The ambulance came and took him. He was not dead, but he was completely paralysed."He wasn't crying. He seemed emotionless, and very hardened."
Israel Palestine Refugees War Conflict Hamas
United Kingdom Latest News, United Kingdom Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Israel-Gaza war live: US says it is ‘cautiously optimistic’ on Israel-Gaza ceasefire talksWhite House national security spokesperson John Kirby told CNN that the US believes gaps between the two sides can be narrowed
Read more »
Israel-Gaza war live: Palestinians flee as Israeli forces launch fresh strikes in northern GazaIsraeli military issues evacuation order for Gaza City’s Shejaiya neighbourhood while Palestinian emergency service says attacks killed at least seven people
Read more »
US spent $345 million on Gaza pier that has operated for only 10 daysThe pier that the US military built to rush humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip has largely failed, aid organisations say, and will probably be abandoned soon.
Read more »
US spent $345 million on Gaza pier that has operated for only 10 daysThe pier that the US military built to rush humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip has largely failed, aid organisations say, and will probably be abandoned soon.
Read more »
US spent $345 million on Gaza pier that has operated for only 10 daysThe pier that the US military built to rush humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip has largely failed, aid organisations say, and will probably be abandoned soon.
Read more »
The more moderate voices making decisions about the Israel-Gaza war are now goneThe October 7 attacks united many Israeli politicians and citizens in grief and anger but, after eight months of war, that has changed and right-wing voices now have a larger seat at Benjamin Netanyahu's table.
Read more »