‘Helpless’: Palestinian Americans struggle with Hamas-Israel violence
Gaza’s Shati Refugee Camp was heavily hit in this week’s airstrikes. “This is not the first time Gaza has been bombed. It will not be the last,” said a Palestinian American Christian now living in the Southland, who noted he’s “older than Israel.”
From his home in New Jersey, Abdulla Okal finds the gruesome scenes hard to comprehend.
In Israel, more than 1,300 people are dead after a brutal surprise attack by Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip who crossed the border and took scores hostage. In Gaza, neighborhoods have been reduced to rubble by retaliatory Israeli strikes, with more than 1,500 Palestinians killed.
Okal stays awake at night watching TV news and scrolling through WhatsApp chat group feeds, searching for hope and finding little. His wife and three children are trapped in the Palestinian territory after making a trip to visit family.
“I hear from [my wife]. Then I can’t find her,” he said. “Then I hear from her and she’s escaped a bombing and is in hiding. Then she goes to the border but can’t leave and turns around. My older kids don’t understand what’s happening. They are helpless. So am
