An Indian woman, who hailed from Jammu and Kashmir, and was seeking immediate evacuation from the war-torn Gaza Strip amid escalating war between Israel and Hamas reached Egypt safely with the assistance of Indian missions in the region, as per her husband.
Lubna Nazir Shaboo and her daughter Karima reached Egypt on Monday evening (Nov 13) after crossing the Rafah border between Egypt and Gaza. “They are in al-Arish (a city in Egypt). Tomorrow morning (Tuesday) they will move to Cairo,” stated Lubna’s husband Nedal Toman, in a text message sent to the Indian news agency PTI from Gaza.
The Rafah crossing, which is the only exit route from Gaza, has been opened multiple times in the last few weeks to allow the flow of humanitarian supplies in Gaza and also make it possible for some injured people and foreign nationals to cross over to the other side.
In a telephonic conversation on Sunday (Nov 12), Lubna had stated that her name appeared on the list of people who can exit Gaza and she profusely thanked the Indian missions present in Cairo, Tel Aviv, Ramallah, for making her exit possible.
On October 10, the woman connected with the Indian news agency PTI over the phone and sought the government’s help in evacuation.
“We are facing a brutal war here and everything is being destroyed and bombarded in a matter of seconds,” she had stated.
Woman calls situation in Gaza ‘very scary’
After unprecedented attacks were carried out by Hamas militants on October 7 in Israel, the nation declared war and launched a counter-offensive with the aim of driving out Hamas – which has been ruling the area since 2007 – from the Gaza Strip and freeing around 240 hostages taken by Hamas
“The sounds of bombardment are too scary and the whole house shakes. It is a very, very scary situation,” Lubna said before she moved to Gaza’s southern part where she spent many days before getting evacuated.
She had stated that their “water supply was officially cut off” in the middle of October 9 night and they were living without an electricity supply, because of which they decided to move south and seek help in evacuation.
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Lubna had stated that she had never witnessed anything like this and they were living with two families who had to flee after bordering areas of Gaza were bombarded.
“We are not able to go anywhere because there is no safe place for us anywhere and the Gaza Strip is too small and it is closed from every side. There are no exit points over here. I have already asked for help from the Representative office of India in Ramallah to help me get to a safer place along with my husband and my daughter,” said the woman, in a video message sent to PTI.
Disclaimer: WION takes utmost care to accurately and responsibly report ongoing developments on the Israel-Palestine conflict after the Hamas attacks. However, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.
(With inputs from agencies)
