The Israeli blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip since 2007 prompted thousands of young Palestinians to travel abroad for work. Many left their wives and children in Gaza while waiting to complete " family reunification " procedures.
But Israel's genocidal war that erupted in October 2023 halted those procedures, leaving partners stranded in the besieged coastal enclave with their children.
At the same time, the women were prevented from travelling, either because of Israeli restrictions or because many countries require wives to travel to Egypt first before proceeding elsewhere. That has become impossible because the Rafah crossing remains closed to travellers, except for a limited category of patients and wounded people, leaving the women with little hope.
According to local estimates, about 950 wives are stranded in Gaza, including mothers of around 1,500 children. In recent months, many have staged protests calling for their cases to be recognised as a humanitarian issue inseparable from those of patients and wounded people who need to travel for treatment.
At the end of September 2023, Palestinian woman Khasal Aldan, 36, arrived in Gaza from Turkey to give birth to her first child under the care of her family. She had planned to return to her husband three weeks after the birth, but became trapped in the enclave after the outbreak of the war.
She remains stranded in Gaza while her son has lived through war, displacement and malnutrition. He is now two years and nine months old and has never met his father.
His mother tries to maintain a connection through video calls on social media applications, but knows that virtual contact cannot replace meeting in person.
Aldan told The New Arab about her attempts to travel to her husband, "I contacted the embassy and the Turkish consulate, and I sent several emails to the International Committee of the Red Cross, but all of them were in vain."
"I gave birth to my son in Gaza, and now he is approaching his third birthday without ever meeting his father. He calls his uncle 'Dad', because the weak internet connection does not help us communicate with my husband very much," she described.
"I am responsible for providing food and water and for fleeing with my child from dangerous areas to safer places. I stayed in the north of the Strip and did not flee south. We lived through the first famine, and I could not obtain milk, which caused my son to suffer severe malnutrition. For a period, he survived on intravenous fluids in the hospital," she said.
"As the famine worsened, my only concern became searching for infant formula, which I could only find with difficulty and at exorbitant prices," Aldan said.
"On one occasion, the occupation bombed the area where we were with a belt of fire. He was no more than one month old at the time. The rubble came between us, and I could not tell where he was because of the thick dust and smoke," she added. "When I reached him, stones were covering him, and he was suffocating. I ran with him into the street until paramedics took him from me and placed him on a ventilator until he regained consciousness."
For her part, Areej Al-Najjar finds herself unable to answer her two children's daily question about when they will travel to join their father, who left for Greece before the war.
He applied for "family reunification", and appointments were scheduled several times for his wife and two children at the Greek embassy in Egypt. However, because the Rafah crossing was closed, they were unable to leave Gaza, even though it had been opened for patients and, more recently, for groups holding "coordination permits".
She considers her case to be a humanitarian one, similar to medical cases. She says human rights organisations should also address it, given that family reunification is a fundamental human right.
Al-Najjar told The New Arab, "I have two children, one is five years old, and the other is three.
"The younger one knows his father only through internet video calls. I contacted the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Greek embassy and the International Organisation for Migration. I received many promises, but nothing has happened so far," she said.
"Greece is not carrying out evacuations, and during my communication with the embassy, I was told that we first had to travel to Egypt and complete the procedures there. Since the beginning of the war, my two children and I have endured displacement, shortages of water and food, and famine," she added.
After her husband received approval for "family reunification" in Greece, six years after leaving Gaza, Heba Sabri Al-Gharbawi tried several times to obtain security clearance to travel, but without success, because travel has been limited to small numbers of patients and wounded people.
She has still not been able to leave.
Al-Gharbawi lives in a displacement tent with her three young daughters. She bears the burden of providing for them while fulfilling the roles of both mother and father .
She told TNA about the hardship they face, "Our living and psychological conditions have deteriorated. This current period of displacement has been one of the hardest times we have experienced.
"My daughters want to join their father, but we cannot travel. They are keen to speak to him online, although even that is difficult. I have reached a point where I can barely speak. I am simply waiting for relief, because it is difficult to live when there is nothing you can do to improve your situation," she said.
"After family reunification is approved, an interview at the embassy is required. However, if six months pass without attending the interview, the procedures must start over. That is financially and psychologically exhausting. We hope we will soon be able to travel to Egypt to complete the required paperwork and obtain an evacuation decision to Greece," she explained.
Since the start of Israel's genocidal war, hundreds of wounded people have travelled abroad for treatment, accompanied by relatives, but have been unable to return because they require ongoing medical care.
At the same time, Israeli forces do not allow the wives of patients or accompanying relatives to travel, creating another tragedy imposed by the war.
While stranded wives continue to suffer inside Gaza, their husbands abroad also endure severe psychological strain as they worry about the fate of their families, attempt to meet their needs, and repeatedly seek evacuation decisions through embassies and consulates.
Walid Nabil Al-Barai was forced to leave Gaza on 29 December 2023 to accompany his nephew, who had suffered a head injury. They travelled to Qatar aboard a French ship from the Egyptian city of El Arish.
He told The New Arab: " My circumstances are extremely difficult . I am responsible for my family in Gaza. I have to keep track of their affairs and daily lives and try to meet their needs while also caring for my injured nephew in Qatar. I follow what is happening in Gaza with deep anguish because I cannot do much."
"I approached the Palestinian embassy in Doha and the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs and requested the evacuation of all my family members. I am waiting for a decision," he said.
Al-Barai added, "I live with constant psychological exhaustion because I am far from my family. I got married 19 years ago, but we've never had a child. I hope efforts to evacuate my wife to Qatar will succeed, where infertility treatment is available, and that after such a long wait, we may finally have a child. My injured nephew lost his mother and sisters, and only his father and brother remain, along with my mother, who has cancer. They are living in a tent under very difficult conditions."
Rami Abdu, head of the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, said protecting the right to freedom of movement and travel is one of the fundamental rights guaranteed under international law, particularly Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 12 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
He told The New Arab that "the continued presence of family members trapped in Gaza raises multiple legal and humanitarian issues related to exercising their fundamental right to freedom of movement, particularly as some have already received official approvals for family reunification , residence permits in European or Arab countries, or university admission".
Against the backdrop of publicly announced Israeli displacement plans, Abdu stressed that "defending the right of individuals to travel does not mean adopting or supporting any policy of forced displacement."
"International law clearly distinguishes between an individual's voluntary right to leave their place of residence and forced displacement," he said. "The destruction of livelihoods in the Gaza Strip , practised and entrenched by the Israeli occupation, is driving residents to seek ways to leave, some of which fall within the framework of forced displacement."
The Palestinian rights advocate added that "all calls to allow travel through the Rafah crossing or other crossings for people wishing to leave voluntarily, especially humanitarian cases and those holding family reunification approvals, visas or legal residence permits, are consistent with human rights principles.
"The continued closure of crossings by Israel, or the imposition of conditions, restrictions or security screening procedures, or the failure to provide clear and safe travel mechanisms, infringes all human rights," he noted. "At the same time, it is essential to ensure that reopening crossings is not exploited as a means of creating demographic change or imposing permanent displacement."
"A balanced human rights position means guaranteeing the right of those who wish to remain to do so safely, while also guaranteeing that those who wish to travel are allowed to leave without unjustified obstacles and ensuring the right to voluntary, lawful return while respecting human dignity and preserving family unity in accordance with the relevant international obligations," Abdu said. Article translated from Arabic by Afrah Almatwari. To read the original, click here .