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Before October 7, Mona* lived with her husband and two daughters in their Gaza City house. They had been through wars before, but not one that would force them to leave their home, travel for two months, and cross to Egypt in an excruciating ordeal, fighting for survival.
Born to a family with Moroccan origins, Mona is a proud descendent of a group of Moroccans who left their homeland for Palestine to fight crusaders alongside Ayyubid dynasty founder Saladin al-Ayyubi. Today, the mother, thanks to her Moroccan passport, was able to flee death and destruction through the Rafah Border Crossing.
Over the phone, Mona recalls how it all started. «We live in Gaza City. When the war started we were told by the Israeli forces to evacuate and head south», Mona told Yabiladi on Thursday from her temporary residence in Cairo.
Mona, her husband and their two daughters were one of the first families who decided to leave Gaza, shortly after the war broke. «We left everything behind, we only took some money, our passports and one change of clothes for each of my daughters», recalls Mona.
The Moroccan did not expect the situation to take such a tragic turn. While some of her family members were killed in the Israeli bombings that targeted Gaza, Mona and her family managed to flee south. But even escaping what seemed like certain death was an unsafe journey, full of struggle.
A long, dangerous and exhausting journey to the south
The journey to Rafah was long, dangerous and exhausting, in the most inhumane conditions. «We first fled to al-Wusta (a governorate in the Gaza strip, ed), we tried to find refuge with some family members, all under Israeli shelling», she recounted.
With limited access to water, electricity, internet and network, the family of four had to survive.
«We had to pay for drinking water to be able to survive, it was very expensive (…) during all that period I couldn’t reach other family members who were still stuck in Gaza, there were times when I would send a message, and they would receive it up to two days later».
In these harsh conditions, the family had to continue heading south. It was getting less and less safe. «When we were told to go south we thought it was going to be safer. But in reality we fled under bombing from the Israelis, we were surrounded by raids», Mona explained.
With her two daughters, aged 8 and 5, Mona had to leave al-Wusta for Khan Yunis. Under the same conditions, the Gazan had to make do with what she had. «There were times when we found ourselves stacked with 200 people in the same house or shelter, with no running water and no electricity and most importantly, no sense of safety», she told Yabiladi.
«We were feeling like we were on death row, next on the list», said Mona who was registered with several other Gazans who bear Moroccan citizenship to be repatriated. «When we first left Gaza, we did not think that we would end up in Rafah. We did not expect the war would be this long and cruel. But when we realized that things are only getting worse and that my life and that of my family is in jeopardy we decided to go to Rafah to be repatriated», said the young mother.
A long-awaited crossing
After a trip fraught with danger to Rafah, and weeks of waiting to be on the list of Moroccans to be repatriated, Mona and her family finally made the crossing.
«We had to wait, at first our names were not on the list of the Moroccans to be repatriated via Rafah. I used to check every day if there was any news about my repatriation. It was a waiting game in terrible circumstances, we feared that my name would be on the list and that I woudn’t know about it because there was no network and no Internet».
Almost one month after registering to be repatriated among Moroccan nationals in Gaza, Mona finally found the names of her two daughters on the list. «I was lucky that day: I had Internet, so I checked my phone and found out that my two daughters’ names were on the list. But their father and I could cross the border as their legal guardians», said Mona who reached Cairo safely two weeks ago.
In Gaza, though, her family home was partially destroyed. Neighbors who were able to return to the city during the November 24 truce told the Gazan mother that her 6th floor apartment was partially demolished by an Israeli strike.
Positive about returning to Gaza, Mona is still worried about other family members who have not been able to make the crossing. «We want to know what’s next, of course, but we are still confused and lost. We are still waiting for our family members who are in the Gaza strip, they are also Moroccans, and they are still waiting to be repatriated. Some of them have even lost grandchildren in the bombings», she regretted.
With everything she went through, Mona is thankful that she could safely leave Gaza, with the hope of returning to her hometown or travelling to Morocco where she still has family and roots to this day.
*The name has been changed at the request of the survivor
