Local-Palestinian-American shares experiences of family living in Gaza
CHICAGO (CBS) -- There's a growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza amid the Israel-Hamas War.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, 3,785 Palestinians have been killed in the enclave since this war began, most of them women, children, and older adults.
The director of the World Health Organization, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, says the situation is "spiraling out of control". More than two million Palestinians are trapped, many with only enough food for one meal a day and sometimes having to drink dirty water.
The War has impacted people across the globe including Palestinian-Americans Here in Chicago.
Yasmeen Elagha, a law student at Northwestern University, has Hundreds of Family Members currently in Gaza. She is in contact with relatives daily and says things for her family are getting continually worse.
"My family is not doing well at all, I have family from northern Gaza who fled down to the south and on their way, hundreds of Palestinians who were fleeing were bombed, thankfully they (her family) survived the bombings," said Elagha.
She says due to the airstrikes some of her family members have been forced to live on the street.
Israel announced Wednesday the country will no longer prevent aid from getting into Gaza through Egypt. President Biden is also pushing to get humanitarian aid into Gaza.
"The humanitarian aid can mitigate the crisis a bit, but this situation is not something new. Palestinians have been under occupation for the past 75 years, said Elagha, "Gaza specifically has been under siege for the past almost two decades."
One attack in Gaza killed hundreds of people after an explosion at a hospital. It's unclear who's responsible for that blast. The Gaza Health Ministry says an Israeli airstrike is to blame while The Israeli military says it was a misfired rocket launched by Palestinian militants. President Biden and the U.S. Government are backing Israel's explanation of the blast.
