With the escalating violence between Israel and Hamas intensifying by the day, a Toronto-born mother of two now residing in Gaza, finds herself desperate for evacuation. Asia Mathkour has expressed her plea for Canadian authorities to intervene considering the imminent possibility of a ground offensive.
With no clear plan of action from the Canadian government, Mathkour expressed her distress and pleaded, “Tell me what to do, tell us Canadians what to do here on the ground, please tell me.”
Mathkour and her children have endured multiple evacuations since she moved to the region in 2014. The recent surprise attack on Israel by Hamas instigated an alarming wave of violence that subsequently led to over a thousand deaths.
In the wake of the attack, Israeli forces have conducted airstrikes on the Hamas-governed Gaza Strip and impeded essential deliveries, including food, water, fuel, and electricity. The scale of the crisis is staggering, with Mathkour detailing the shortage of electricity, limited food, and the constant threat of terror.
To shield her young ones from the dire reality of their situation, Mathkour has resorted to distractions during bombing instances, seeking shelter within their residence.
The crisis has stretched Gaza’s hospitals thin, with the World Health Organization declaring them to be at a “breaking point”. Despite the looming humanitarian catastrophe, Israel remains unwavering in its decision to withhold aid until Hamas releases around 150 hostages captured during the initial attack.
First signs of relief arrived as the Canadian Armed Forces operated two evacuation flights, carrying 281 Canadians and their families out of the conflict-torn region. The challenges persist, however, in Gaza due to the absence of a humanitarian corridor which makes airlifts in the area currently unfeasible.
Mathkour’s voice joins a chorus of pleas by approximately 70 Canadians currently trapped in Gaza, all desperate for aid and guidance from the Canadian government. Despite the logistical hurdles, the government aims to continue evacuations from Tel Aviv at an estimated rate of two flights per day, while also exploring additional options for those unable to reach Tel Aviv for an evacuation flight.
This escalation of conflict has already claimed numerous lives, among them two confirmed Canadians, with a third presumed dead. The death toll from Gaza’s health ministry reports stands at 1,537, with 6,612 people injured. Alarmingly, women and children bear a significant portion of casualties, with 276 women and 500 minors among the deceased.
