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Palestinian-American family stuck in Gaza despite pleas to US officials: 'We feel abandoned'
ABC News / Disney ^ | October 12, 2023 | ByMax Zahn and Davi Merchan

Posted on 10/12/2023 11:09:37 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer

Haneen Okal, a Palestinian-American who lives in New Jersey, reunited in recent months with family in the Gaza Strip for the first time in more than 10 years, she told ABC News.

Now, Okal and her three young children -- two of whom were born and raised in the U.S. -- find themselves caught in the Israel-Hamas war despite pleas to U.S. officials in Israel, Okal said in an interview.

"It's very terrifying because we all want to get out of here," Okal said. "Unfortunately, the U.S. embassy is not helping. We feel abandoned."

Okal's husband, Abdulla, is at home in New Jersey pleading for help getting his family back to the U.S. safely.

On Tuesday, Okal and her children, the youngest of whom is two-months old, drove to the Rafah border crossing with Egypt as bombs fell "everywhere," she said.

After Israel closed its lone border crossing with Gaza, the passage at Rafah stood as the last route out of the territory.

However, bombs dropped near the Rafah border crossing had forced the passage closed and left the area on the Gaza side of the border in disarray, Okal said.

"People were running and going back to the center of Gaza," she said. "It was a very bad experience."

The crisis faced by Okal and her family follows months of unsuccessful outreach to U.S. officials that had delayed a return home, she said.

During her visit in Gaza, Okal had given birth to her third child, leaving her in need of a U.S. passport for the newborn.

(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Israel; News/Current Events; US: New Jersey; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: gaza; hamas; journalism; press
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1 posted on 10/12/2023 11:09:37 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Stay there.

L


2 posted on 10/12/2023 11:10:20 AM PDT by Lurker ( Peaceful coexistence with the Left is not possible. Stop pretending that it is. )
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Shouldn’t be in Gaza in the first place.


3 posted on 10/12/2023 11:11:05 AM PDT by marcusmaximus
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Looks like you’re Palestinian first and American last so guess what


4 posted on 10/12/2023 11:11:53 AM PDT by butlerweave
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

They are muzzie. Did they vote for the hamas?


5 posted on 10/12/2023 11:12:16 AM PDT by dynachrome (War does not determine who is right, but who is left.)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

The U.S. stopped fending for its own people a long time ago, about the time Brandon took office. Didn’t she get the memo?


6 posted on 10/12/2023 11:13:18 AM PDT by Spok (It takes a lot of learning to understand how little we know. (Paraphrasing Thomas Sowell.))
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Heritage Matters.


7 posted on 10/12/2023 11:13:40 AM PDT by samadams2000
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
"Okal's children, aged 8, 2 and two months, are trying to make sense of the destruction being wrought, she said."

Maybe she should explain to them that it is the bitter fruit of endless hatred inculcated against Jews, and acting on that hatred has consequences.

My guess--if they do survive and make it back to the US, Okal will pick up where she left off, while benefitting from an overly tolerant/sympathetic US.

8 posted on 10/12/2023 11:19:46 AM PDT by Tench_Coxe (The woke were surprised by the reaction to the Bud Light fiasco. May there be many more surprises)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Need to check videos to see if they were dancing in the streets Saturday afternoon.


9 posted on 10/12/2023 11:21:14 AM PDT by TangoLimaSierra (⭐⭐To the Left, The Truth is Right Wing Violence⭐⭐)
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To: butlerweave

She went over there to have a baby so I think you’re correct.


10 posted on 10/12/2023 11:21:18 AM PDT by jean michael
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Please, you are mooselimb first, stay there. It is where you belong. We didn’t want your kind here in the first place, we don’t want you back.


11 posted on 10/12/2023 11:24:32 AM PDT by rigelkentaurus
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Sow the wind.

https://twitter.com/haneenokal


12 posted on 10/12/2023 11:32:05 AM PDT by CaptainPhilFan ( Bring back insane asylums)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Ask Tlaib.


13 posted on 10/12/2023 11:33:08 AM PDT by DPMD (ua)
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To: butlerweave

*Looks like you’re Palestinian first and American last so guess what*

Jooz are leftists first Jooz second. What’s the difference? Perhaps we should arm both sides.


14 posted on 10/12/2023 11:34:07 AM PDT by DIRTYSECRET (e allowed )
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

I wonder if she was one of those out dancing in the streets just a few days ago ...

15 posted on 10/12/2023 11:37:19 AM PDT by BlueLancer (Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times, it's enemy action.)
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To: DIRTYSECRET

Jooz? Why?


16 posted on 10/12/2023 11:37:34 AM PDT by Fuzz (. )
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
On Tuesday, Okal and her children, the youngest of whom is two-months old, drove to the Rafah border crossing with Egypt as bombs fell "everywhere," she said.

[snip]

During her visit in Gaza, Okal had given birth to her third child, leaving her in need of a U.S. passport for the newborn.

It's been two months ... she certainly wasn't in any hurry before this to get the passport.

17 posted on 10/12/2023 11:40:54 AM PDT by BlueLancer (Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times, it's enemy action.)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

I’ll bet Haneen and Abdulla are glad they voted for Biden. (Legally or not) If Trump got into office he was going to start a war, CNN told me so. LOL!!!


18 posted on 10/12/2023 11:40:56 AM PDT by shoff (Vote Democrat it beats thinking!)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

WHO tf flies to Gaza to have a baby? I wouldn’t, not even if it was for my own mother’s funeral.

“Sorry, can’t make it, too pregnant.”


19 posted on 10/12/2023 11:48:44 AM PDT by hellinahandcart
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Anything past the hyphen deserves to be disregarded.


20 posted on 10/12/2023 11:49:16 AM PDT by txeagle
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