Chicago area woman's family struggles to evacuate Gaza -- including two U.S. citizens
OAKBROOK TERRACE, Ill. (CBS) -- American citizens are stuck in Gaza as Israel's war with Hamas rages on – and a Palestinian-American woman in Chicago's western suburbs tells CBS 2 despite constant effort, it's nearly impossible to determine when her family members can get approval to leave.
Again, this even applies to those who are American citizens.
As CBS 2's Tara Molina reported, Yasmeen Elagha has been playing a brutal waiting game for two months now, as she tries to get her family out of Gaza.
CBS 2 first sat down with Elagha in October - and her fight to get her family out of Gaza safely has not changed.
Elagha was able to confirm her family members are in the crisis intake system, but can't confirm they're on the list of people approved to evacuate.
"They are in imminent danger," Elagha said.
Elagha has 10 family members she is trying to get evacuated from Gaza. Her two cousins there are American citizens, while the other eight are direct relatives. She wants to get them all back to her family home in west suburban Oakbrook Terrace.
"My family's has gotten significantly worse. A few weeks ago, they had to evacuate their home in Khan Yunis - because the bombings around them were increasing to an extent that was not livable at all for them," Ehagha said. "So they evacuated west, and just this morning, actually, Israeli soldiers took over the home they were living in in Khan Yunis. And today, an air strike blew up right in front of their home."
Elagha has been fighting to get those family members out of Gaza safely for more than two months. Three of them are dependent on medication to which they have no access right now.
"It's absolutely a horrendous sight, and it is unlivable," she said. "They're also running out of water. They're running out of food."
Elagha said she has a massive family overseas - and knows firsthand what could happen to the people in her family photos. There have been nearly 18,000 Palestinians killed since Oct. 7, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
"I have almost 100 family members who have been killed," Elagha said, "and this is since October 7th."
But even in the cases of the two U.S. citizens, Elagha said despite near constant phone calls and emails with representatives of the U.S. Department of State and U.S. embassy offices, she has only so far been able to confirm, "We have all of your family members in the crisis intake system," according to an email she received.
She was also told by email: "The U.S. Department of State has asked the relevant government officials to add [her 10 family members] to the official, online crossing list for Rafah. Processing times vary."
Both statements were provided to her by U.S. Department of State representatives, and reviewed by CBS 2.
CBS 2's Molina reached out to the U.S. Department of State asking what those next steps look like. A spokesperson said the department can't comment on specific cases like Elagha's, but they continue to work on safe passage for U.S. citizens, permanent residents and their immediate family members.
The spokesperson said the three entities that control access to the Rafah crossing from Gaza – Israel, Egypt, and Hamas – will determine who gets to leave Gaza and enter Egypt, and that the U.S. government does not make the lists posted on the Palestinian General Authority for Crossings and Borders Facebook page. But the department said it does provide information to its Israeli and Egyptian partners about U.S. residents looking to leave Gaza, and have made requests for individuals to be permitted to cross.
Elagha, however, said she does not believe the U.S. is doing enough to get people out safely and cannot afford to wait. She's calling on more transparency and a timeline for evacuation.
"Everything that people are telling me at the State Department, and outside of it, is, 'There's nothing the U.S. government can do,'" she said.
