The father of a young family that has escaped war-torn Gaza and returned to Adelaide has thanked everyone who “felt their pain”, and praised the “relentless” efforts of Australian diplomats who secured their safety.
The Adelaide family of four travelled to Gaza so the two children, aged seven and 10, could visit their grandparents and family. It was their first visit to Gaza. They arrived two weeks before the conflict began and, according to their lawyer, have been through hell since then.
The family does not wish to be publicly identified, but were among 25 Australians who managed to escape the besieged enclave into Egypt through the Rafah border crossing on Wednesday and Thursday. The pass was opened as part of a multinational deal to allow foreign national civilians to leave Gaza.
Australian consular officials met them on the other side and organised accommodation and commercial flights home free of charge from Cairo. Many other families and Australian citizens will return to Australia in coming days.
Shortly after arriving in Adelaide on a Qatar Airways flight, the father thanked Australia’s foreign minister, Penny Wong, as well as the ambassadors to Egypt and Qatar for their support.
“We further want to thank all Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade staff who were involved in our repatriation process, started three weeks ago,” the father said. “Everyone we met or talked on the phone with was very patient, supportive, compassionate, helpful and attentive.
“We’d like to thank all those who advocated for us over the past few weeks, including our friends, neighbours, community figures, colleagues, ex-colleagues, managers, ex-managers, and indeed every Australian who felt our pain and wanted to see a happy ending to our ordeal.”
Despite the praise and gratitude, the family remained extremely concerned for the lives of their loved ones in Gaza, including their ill and elderly relatives, who have run out of essential medication.
“They may never see their family again. Parting with them prior to crossing the border was distressing and something no family should have to endure,” the family’s lawyer, Alison Battisson, said earlier this week.
Australian officials were providing consular assistance to 67 people still in Gaza, Australians and their families, who have requested help to depart, a Dfat spokesperson said.
The situation in Gaza was deteriorating as the effects of Israel’s blockade of supplies, including water and fuel, worsened.
Humanitarian aid was trickling in but not fast enough, international human rights bodies and the UN have warned.
The Dfat spokesperson said the situation in Gaza “remains highly challenging and can change rapidly”, and they were engaging “closely with partners in the region to ensure the remaining Australians in Gaza who wish to leave are able to do so as soon as possible”.
Battisson said the family “had been through hell like so many other innocents”.
“Around the world, conflict rages and the people who suffer the most are the civilians, the innocent, the noncombatants, the children,” Battisson said.
“This family asks that you extend the same charity that has been extended to them – reach out to people who may be suffering, reach out with consideration and an open heart. And start a conversation based on common ground – the dignity of our humanity.”
Earlier on Saturday, Wong called for a renewed international effort to find a two-state solution to end the cycle of violence in the Middle East, arguing that Israel can only find peace and security if it can do the same for Palestinians.
Writing for Guardian Australia, Wong outlined the Albanese government’s position in the strongest terms yet, sayingthe “status quo is failing everyone” and the only alternative is to find a “durable peace” through a political process.
The cabinet minister Ed Husic also reiterated calls for a humanitarian ceasefire to allow aid to flow.
“What we need to do is to de-escalate, to calm things down, and to in particular help those that are innocent and have been deeply affected by those actions there in Gaza,” he said.
Australian Associated Press contributed to this report.
