Gaza-born Australians are desperately trying to maintain contact with family and friends in Gaza as electricity and telecommunications blackouts affect the heavily bombarded Palestinian enclave.
Ahmed Abumarzouq, from Perth, was in consistent contact with relatives in Gaza City until telecommunications company Paltel was bombed on Monday, he said. He has not heard from them since.
He has friends who have died in the past 72 hours in Gaza and said he was “devastated” by the conflict.
“They’re terrified,” he said. “They are trying to find water to drink, they’re trying to find something to feed the kids. There are no shelters, no safe places. The only thing they can do is move from one place to another.
“I don’t know what is going to happen next. They are surrounded by Israel on all sides. It’s an open-air prison.”
The chief financial officer with the Western Australian state government lived through the blockade and multiple wars in Gaza before moving to Perth with his wife in 2014.
His brother-in-law and his wife and four young children took shelter in a hotel when their central neighbourhood of Rimal, dense with banks, telecommunications providers and universities, was targeted by the Israeli Defence Force.
His wife’s sisters and their families have joined 70,000 Gazans taking refuge in United Nations Relief and Works Agency schools across the territory.
Ahmed Radi, an electrical engineer from Perth, said he has had “sporadic” contact with his elderly parents and wider family in Gaza City since retaliatory bombing of the enclave began on Saturday.
His sister, who works for the UN in Gaza, told him she fears for her life.
“She said, ‘At least my son is in Turkey so, if we die, there is someone to continue the family.’”
He said they do not have electricity or running water but they have enough fuel saved to run their generator once a day. Access to water, he said, will be the “next disaster hitting them”.
“You talk to the people there and they don’t have a life. It doesn’t exist there. There is no hope.”
A spokesperson for the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network said she believed there were very few Australian nationals living in Gaza.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said there were 10,000 to 12,000 Australians living in Israel.
Writing on social media, Emily Gian, an Australian living in Yehud, about 18km from Tel Aviv, described taking refuge in a bomb shelter as rockets flew overhead.
“My heart is breaking, trying to follow the news, reading story after story of family members searching for loved ones they have lost contact with throughout the day,” she wrote alongside a photo of her with her partner and three children sheltering in a bomb shelter.
“In the meantime, this is where you will find us every time a red alert siren goes off.”
According to social media, Gian works with the Zionist Federation of Australia and is from Melbourne.
In another post, she described asking her husband about potential rocket directions.
“As he was pointing, the red alert sirens went off. Down to the shelter. Followed by many booms”, she wrote.
Intrepid Travel confirmed more than 30 Australian travellers were touring Israel when violence erupted on Saturday. They have all left the region.
A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson said: “We are seeking to confirm the welfare of Australians who may have been caught in the attack on Israel.
“Australian officials are monitoring the situation closely and remain in touch with local authorities.”
