Palestinian Canadian fears temporary truce will do little for family trapped in Gaza
Former Red Cross worker in Gaza says 'history will judge' governments not calling for ceasefire
Outside of Nasser Najjar's bright West End apartment, it's an uncharacteristically crisp and sunny November day in Vancouver.
But Najjar's mind is far from the warm home he shares with his partner and six-month-old son.
For weeks now, his thoughts have stayed in the besieged Gaza Strip, where his family, including his elderly parents and sisters, have just moved to yet another apartment, hoping to stay safe from bombardment by the Israel Defence Forces.
The last he heard, his sister had fled a building that had been hit by a strike. He hasn't received any news from her in 16 hours.
Suddenly, his phone screen flashes white. A single word in Arabic: "Ay-sheen."
"Alive."
Najjar, 42, says he, like so many Palestinians living abroad, has been living a "nightmare that never ends" since the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7. The updates that come from people living in the Gaza Strip are brief and erratic, often just a few words to say they made it through the night.
When the internet is cut off or when phone batteries die, there is simply no news.
"I sleep two or three hours here and there but even when I'm sleeping, it's nightmares," said Najjar.
"All I can do is check my phone."
A former frontline worker for the Red Cross in Gaza, Najjar lived through prior conflicts in the strip in 2008-09, 2012 and 2014 before moving to Canada. He said this campaign by Israeli forces has been the most difficult of all.
Israel launched its war in Gaza after gunmen from Hamas burst across the border fence on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and seizing about 240 hostages in a brutal attack that shocked the world.
Since then, more than 14,000 Gazans have been killed by Israeli bombardment, around 40 per cent of them children, according to health authorities in the Hamas-ruled territory. However they have said it has become increasingly difficult to keep an up-to-date tally as the health service has buckled under the Israeli bombardment.
Najjar said since he saw graphic news reports of the Hamas assault, he knew Israel would retaliate with force. But he never thought he'd see this level of devastation, which has claimed the lives of journalists, United Nations staffers, and members of his own family.
"Since the 7th of October, I lost many friends, I lost cousins, I lost my house, and I lost faith in humanity," he said.
Najjar's sister, a doctor, has stopped practising after medical supplies ran out and she was forced to flee, leaving patients behind. His other sister worked in an orphanage that has been destroyed.
"We are a family that believed in humanity and doing good for the world, but the world didn't do good for us," he said.
WATCH: Nasser Najjar learns his sister is alive
Because Najjar's parents and sisters are not Canadian, he has little hope of getting them out of Gaza, though he was advised by his member of Parliament that they could apply for a visitor visa.
On Thursday, a group of Palestinian Canadians with family in Gaza served the federal government with a notice of intention to prosecute "[seeking] to put Canadian government officials on notice to ultimately hold to account any violations of international law."
The notice also called for "the immediate evacuation of Canadian citizens and Canadian permanent residents, and student visa holders stranded in Gaza, as well as to help to evacuate non-Canadian relatives of Canadian citizens and permanent residents."
The federal Liberal government has resisted pressure to call for a ceasefire in the conflict — pressure that has been coming from the NDP, the Bloc Québécois, and its own backbench MPs — maintaining that Israel has the right to protect itself against Hamas.
On Nov. 15 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau came under fire for calling on Israel to "exercise maximum restraint" in Gaza.
Najjar said he believes "history will judge" Canadian politicians not calling for an immediate end to the violence.
Hostage exchange
On Friday, Israel and Hamas began a four-day truce, with Palestinian militants set to release a first group of 13 Israeli women and child hostages later in the day. The first group of 39 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons are then expected to be released at 8 p.m, with at total of 150 Palestinians set to be freed over the course of the truce.
"Every hostage, whether it's from the Israeli side or Palestinian side, especially if they're women or children, they have the right to be with their families, they have the right to be safe," said Najjar, adding that he fears what violence could come once the truce ends.
Nasser said the text from his sister will allow him to rest for a couple of hours.
He'll try to sleep, and gain some strength for the next protest, and playtime with his son. All the while, his phone will be near.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
- With files from Reuters