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‘Every man for himself’: Guilt and anger for Palestinian Americans hoping to flee Gaza

Some Americans stuck in Gaza plan to go to the Rafah border crossing when it is scheduled to open Monday. But others say they distrust the government and fear the journey.

Palestinians stand by the building destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip, Monday, Oct. 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa) (Hatem Moussa, Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

GAZA – Palestinian American Jason Shawa, 55, heard the news that the Rafah crossing, on Gaza’s southern border with Egypt, will be opened Monday, giving him hope of possible escape from the war.

But it was fleeting, as airstrikes rained down on Gaza and he confronted the uncertainty of whether he, his wife, Najla, and their two daughters would be able to flee.

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The translator’s wife and children still don’t have U.S. passports, and he has received no official word to indicate that the border will actually be opening. And even if it is, he said, it is “highly risky” to travel amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza strip.

“There are no guarantees. There’s not like a safe corridor offered to foreign nationals when they leave. It’s every man for himself,” said Shawa, who is staying in a small two-room cabin in central Gaza, about 40 minutes from the border, with his family and 50 neighbors after they had to evacuate their homes.

Read the full report from NBC News.


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