Family who endured 28-day escape from Gaza now face being split up

Mother and baby must wait for visas before they can travel to the UK

'It has been a very, very difficult time for all of us,' UK university lecturer Mohamad Abou-Foul told The National. Reuters

Live updates: Follow the latest news on Israel-Gaza

A family who endured a 28-day escape from Gaza to Cairo now face being split up, as the mother and baby lack UK visas and the father does not have residency in Egypt.

University lecturer Mohamad Abou-Foul, 38, spoke to The National about his family's traumatic journey across Gaza to the safety of Egypt.

Mr Abou-Foul, who works in the University of West London's business department, said his family – which has 16 members, including his elderly parents, his wife and their three young children – had been forced to move four times during their journey to the Rafah crossing due to air strikes hitting buildings next to them. He said they faced a number of near misses.

“We had to wait 28 days to cross the border,” he said.

“It has been a very, very difficult time for all of us. On the seventh night of the conflict, the authorities told us to move to the south. So we contacted friends and people we know and asked if we could stay with them.

“We have been forced to move four times as places where we staying kept getting bombed just a few metres from us. We have kept having to try and find places that were safe. It has been like staying in a minefield.

-"You do not know who your next-door neighbours are or who is living above you. At my home, I knew who my neighbours were, now if Israel believes militants are staying there, we are going to die with them. We have been bombed in air attacks in places we thought were safe.

“All my children are in shock, they are waking up in the night screaming. There has been no water, no internet or phone connection.”

When the family reached Rafah, it took them three days to make the crossing as family members' names were left off the approved lists again and again.

“The list is published every night but we had to wait until our names were on it,” he explained.

“We are a family of 16. When we finally made it, only 12 of our names were on. My son had been left off and my brother, his wife and son were also not on it. When we all finally got our names on, they then closed the border for two days.

“When we finally got through the checkpoint, we were on a bus for 24 hours.”

Now, the family are in Cairo facing yet another problem: Mr Abou-Foul's wife and their infant do not have British visas.

“We are still in Cairo. My wife needs to wait for the Home Office to help sort her a visa out,” he said.

“The Foreign Office put us in a hotel for three days and since then we have found a place on our own.

“The Home Office told me to take my son and daughter home and to leave my wife and child here in Cairo. This is a crazy idea – we are staying as a family, they should not be able to split families up.

“This is an emergency situation and we need their full support. They told us it might take a bit of time and we need to wait.

“I’m just urging the Home Office to use whatever means they can to get us out of here and back to the UK. I do not have residency in Egypt and I cannot stay here for a long period. I cannot leave my wife and baby and I cannot put our older children into school or access health care here.”

Mr Abou-Foul's parents, who are both British citizens, were able to cross into Cairo and are hoping to travel back to the UK in the next few days.