Relief and sorrow among the 139 Spaniards and their families evacuated from Gaza upon their arrival in Spain

Many do not know if their house is still standing and face their future with uncertainty due to doubts about their situation.

The 139 Hispano-Palestinians and their families who have managed to leave the Gaza Strip have shown upon their arrival this afternoon in Spain from Egypt their relief at being safe after the horror experienced in the last month but also their regret and pain for what that they have left behind.

A total of 139 people have finally traveled aboard the Air Force's Airbus 330, 85 of them Spanish-Palestinian and the remaining 54 their relatives. The group is made up of 67 minors, three of them less than one year old, 39 women and 33 men.

At the foot of the runway they were received by the acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, and by the acting Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, who congratulated themselves on the success with which the operation has been completed.

"This was a particularly complex evacuation because it required authorizations from the Government of Israel and the Government of Egypt," explained Albares, who also took the opportunity to highlight "the extraordinary collaboration of Qatar to make it possible."

The minister highlighted that "the Hispanic-Palestinians and their relatives who requested to be evacuated are already here, in Spain, and their lives are now safe." But, he added, "we are not going to forget that many other Palestinian civilians are currently being unjustly threatened by bombings against civilian targets."

Robles acknowledged that the moment in which all of them got off the plane was "very emotional" and stressed that among the evacuees there were many children who "are going to have a new life here." The head of Defense has assured that the Government will always be committed "to just causes" like this one in which what is done is "to save the people who are being subjected to this absolutely indiscriminate violence in Gaza."

Both ministers have highlighted the joint work that their respective departments have carried out and that has made it possible to bring all of them to Spain. In the case of Foreign Affairs, fifty diplomats have participated, including twenty on the ground at the embassies in Israel and Egypt as well as the Consulate General in Jerusalem.

As far as Defense is concerned, a total of 27 personnel who are part of the 45 Group, the Air Deployment Support Squadron (EADA) and the Aeroevacuation Medical Unit have traveled on board the plane, while the operation has been directed from the Operations Command of the Defense Staff.

MIXED FEELINGS

New arrivals have expressed mixed feelings. On the one hand, the relief and happiness of feeling safe, in many cases with their closest relatives, but also the pain and sadness for what they have experienced in recent weeks and for the lives they have left behind. back.

"When you want to smile you remind yourself that what you have left behind," Salah Awad El Sousi, coordinator of the Spanish colony in Gaza, explains to journalists, who admits that "it is a strange feeling that I have never felt before, happy and sad at the same time." time".

Natalia Abu Jarad, 26, also admits her relief at having left Gaza where "the situation is fatal" and she had to change house six times before leaving. "I am very sad because I have my cousins, my friends, my husband's family... they are all still there," she adds, stressing that she does not know if her house is still standing or has been destroyed by the bombings. .

His father, Nafez Abu Jarad, is happy to have arrived. "For me, Spain is the first homeland," he emphasizes, saying that he even served in the military and is very grateful for the welcome they are being given and the position that Spain has adopted in this conflict.

40 YEARS LIVING IN GAZA

In her case, Amelia, born in Madrid, married to a Palestinian and living in Gaza for 40 years, has come with the concern of leaving her husband behind. According to her, although she included her name so that he could be evacuated, she did not want to leave. The couple, her children and her grandchildren left her residence in the north of the Strip towards the south in the first days of Israeli bombing, and she stayed there to wait.

Amelia has arrived accompanied by two of her children and several of her grandchildren, including the youngest of the group, a baby of only four months who has been difficult to feed in recent weeks because there was no formula, says her grandmother. which underlines how difficult it is currently to find clean water and food in Gaza.

Although in his four decades in the Strip he has already experienced other conflicts with Israel, he confesses that "none like this." The bombs destroy houses of up to three and five floors with people inside, he explains, stressing that in Beit Hanun, where he lived, "it is completely destroyed."

Riad el Hila also admits his "pain", because he and his family have managed to leave but relatives and other people who are not lucky enough to have a Spanish passport like him have been left behind. "The war continues, the destruction, the killings, our homes are being destroyed," he denounces. "Here there is no war" while there, he emphasizes, "they have nothing, there is no water, there is no food, there is no communication, only destruction."

On the other hand, all of them also face their future with uncertainty. "We don't know what our status is going to be here," admits Salah El Sousi, who is not sure where he will sleep tonight.

As he explains, those who have relatives in Spain who can take them in have been told that they can go with them, but the rest generally prefer to stay in Madrid while waiting for their situation to be clarified.