An American mum of three has appealed to the US government to help her and her family while she is stuck in Gaza.
Haneen Okal is in the region now at the centre of the Israel-Hamas war. The territory is under attack from Israeli air strikes, retaliating to a bloody operation of attacks on Israelis over the weekend by members of the militant group Hamas.
"It's very terrifying because we all want to get out of here," Okal told ABC. "Unfortunately, the U.S. embassy is not helping."
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'We never hear from them,' Okal said of US officials (CNN)She added: "We feel abandoned... They say, 'We're going to get you out. We're going to call you back,'" Okal said. "We never hear from them."
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Her husband is home in New Jersey hoping to get help while Okal has emailed US officials hoping for help.
White House spokesperson John Kirby has said "Civilians are not to blame for what Hamas has done" and that the US continues to "support safe passage." The Biden administration is currently talking to the governments of Israel and Egypt regarding the safe exit of civilians in Gaza, home to over 2 million people.
The area's only power station ran out of fuel on Wednesday, while entire neighbourhoods have been demolished. The deaths of Palestinians has shot up to 1,500 and the figure includes 500 children and 376 women.
The Biden administration is in talks with Israel and Egypt (AFP via Getty Images)Civilians seeking safety have crowded into UN-run schools as Israel has laid siege to the territory, barring the entry of food, fuel, water and medicine. Israel has refused to allow aid into Gaza until Hamas frees around 150 hostages taken during the grisly weekend incursion.
“Not a single electricity switch will be flipped on, not a single faucet will be turned on and not a single fuel truck will enter until the Israeli hostages are returned home,” Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz said on social media.
All of this is ahead of a possible ground invasion. Hamas’ assault on Saturday killed more than 1,300 people in Israel, including 247 soldiers. Many more could follow and a former Israeli defense official said Israel should continue bombarding Gaza for as long as militants remain in the territory, even if this means the loss of Israeli soldiers.
A former Israeli defense official said Israel should continue bombarding Gaza for as long as militants remain in the territory (AFP via Getty Images)"We need to crush Hamas to ashes, no matter how many casualties," retired General Yaakov Amidror said. "Of course, we will give all means to our soldiers to defend themselves. but I don't think casualties are the main element in decision-making."
Any ground offensive would be risky and likely bloody. Well over 300,000 Israeli reservists have been recalled despite Hamas' warnings of the consequences of a ground invasion.
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A high-ranking Hamas official, Saleh Al-Arouri, warned Thursday that any Israeli invasion of Gaza “will turn into a disaster for its army,” saying the group was prepared to respond.
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An injured Palestinian girl cries upon her arrival at the hospital to be checked in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip (AFP via Getty Images)A ground operation like this would increase Israel's chances of killing top Hamas leaders and rescuing hostages, but would likely involve house-to-house fighting in already debris-ridden streets pummelled by airstrikes.
Hamas has also had several years to prepare defences and create a network of tunnels.
Hamas is deeply rooted in Palestinian society, with an army of fighters, a government in Gaza, and extensive social welfare programs. It has millions of supporters across Gaza, the occupied West Bank and Lebanon, as well as an exiled leadership.
Founded in the late 1980s, it survived as an underground armed group for years while Israel was militarily occupying the entire Gaza Strip, before the 2005 withdrawal.
Hamas has had several years to prepare defences and create a network of tunnels. (AP)Reoccupying Gaza would leave Israel in charge of governing and providing basic services to 2.3 million Palestinians, while likely battling an insurgency. Removing Hamas from power and then pulling out would leave a vacuum that could be filled by even more radical groups.
Hamas leaders say an Israeli crackdown on militants in the West Bank, continued construction of settlements - which the international community considers to be illegal - thousands of prisoners in Israeli jails, and its ongoing blockade of Gaza pushed it to attack.
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