The mother of a British teacher who has managed to flee war-torn Gaza after more than four weeks said she is “beyond relief” after she crossed into Egypt.
Zaynab Wandawi, 29, her husband, mother-in-law, sister-in-law and five of her brothers-in-law made it through the Rafah crossing from the beseiged territory last night.
The family-of-12 had tried to cross the border into Egypt previously, but were told their names were not on the list of foreign nationals allowed to leave.
Ms Wandawi, from Salford, Greater Manchester, travelled to Gaza at the beginning of October with her British Palestinian husband and his relatives for a family wedding before the Israel-Hamas war erupted following the Hamas attacks on 7 October.
Ms Wandawi’s mother Lalah Ali-Faten said: “I am beyond relief, I feel so much lighter today, physically and mentally. I am beyond relieved.
“I am very thankful they’re out, but I have an acute awareness that she’s very privileged that she’s able to leave.
“I have a bit of guilt along with that joy, because I know there are so many Palestinian families that weren’t able to leave because they don’t have the luxury of having a nationality that will get you out of that war zone.”
Two of Ms Wandawi’s brothers-in-law stayed in Gaza to help another family member leave.
Ms Ali-Faten said she received a notification that the Rafah border crossing was open before letting her daughter’s group know.
She said it took most of the day for them to be processed, before they were able to enter Egypt, where they boarded a bus to Cairo.
“She called me when she was sitting on the bus because they were waiting for the bus to fill up with British nationals,” said Ms Ali-Faten.
“She sounded more herself than I’ve heard her over the last month, she sounded more like Zaynab when I was speaking with her.
“She sounded kind of peppy and she had energy in her voice.”
On Tuesday, another two British nationals were on the list of foreign passport holders permitted to leave Gaza by the Palestinian border authorities.
There are believed to be three British hostages still in Gaza, Justice Secretary Alex Chalk has said.
It was unclear how many were still trapped, he said, adding: “In terms of the numbers who have been allowed to leave about 100 have been able to leave.”
Around 200 British nationals were believed to have been stranded in Gaza just before work broke out on 7 October,.
The Rafah crossing, the only possible route out of Gaza after Israel sealed the borders following Hamas’s 7 October attacks, was closed over the weekend.
The family of one pregnant British mother told i she was “stuck” in Egypt after UK officials failed to provide her Palestinian husband with humanitarian protection.
Yusra Alshanti, 25, from Manchester, was evacuated from Gaza at the weekend through the Rafah border crossing with her two young daughters and husband, Ibrahim Taha.
Unlike his wife and children, Mr Taha is not a British passport holder but claims he was assured by the British Foreign Office that he would be granted a visa once he had been evacuated from Gaza, according to Mrs Alshanti’s father, Dr Nasser Al-Shanti.
