‘Constant fear': Illinois mom of 3 pleads with US government to help her evacuate Gaza

Chicago Tribune

8 hours ago

For Salsabeel ElHelou, it's difficult to come up with the words to fully describe the 'primitive' living conditions in Gaza for her and her three children. There's no fuel for cooking, she said, and the drinking water is dirty. She spends much of her time desperately searching for flour to make bread because food is so scarce.
ElHelou, an American citizen, said she's unsuccessfully pleaded with the U.S. government since the war broke out about a year and a half ago to help her entire family return to downstate Carbondale, the town where she grew up.
At one point, she said her name and those of her two youngest children appeared on a Rafah border crossing list from Gaza into Egypt, but not her oldest son. A few months ago, the U.S. Embassy informed ElHelou there was an opportunity for her to exit alone. She stayed in Gaza both times, saying it isn't 'logical, mentally sound or humane' for a mother to leave any of her children behind in a war zone. She is estranged from their father, but nevertheless would still never abandon one of them.
'Simply put, I would continue to live in hell wherever I go if I left one of my children in this war,' ElHelou, 40, told the Tribune over text messages. 'My family's life in Illinois was a fundamental part of my identity before we moved to Gaza, and I have every right to return to my country and my community there.'
Attorneys representing ElHelou argued before a judge earlier this month at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse downtown that the U.S. government has a responsibility to evacuate citizens and some members of their families during times of war or natural disaster.
The June 3 hearing on a request for a preliminary injunction comes after a group of Palestinian Americans, including three with ties to Illinois, sued the U.S. government last year, alleging the State Department failed to help them or their family members evacuate Gaza and forced them to 'endure prolonged and life-threatening conditions' in violation of the Constitution's equal protection clause. The plaintiffs are American citizens, legal permanent residents or their immediate relatives.
'(The) hearing is about holding the U.S. government accountable for abandoning its constitutional duty to Americans and endangering American families,' attorney Maria Kari said. 'We are asking the court to act where the executive branch has refused.'
Jason Altabet, an attorney for the government, argued that it's difficult to evacuate people from Gaza, more so than other conflicts, because the American government lacks a diplomatic presence in the area. He said, for example, during the chaotic withdrawal of Afghanistan in 2021 the government had military planes to remove citizens and others 'quickly and efficiently.'
U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall also noted in court last week that because evacuations require coordination between other countries, such as Jordan and Egypt, certain decisions appear to be outside the control of the U.S. government.
A State Department spokesperson said in a statement that it doesn't comment on ongoing litigation.
Israel's war in Gaza has killed over 54,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its tally. For months, experts have also warned that Palestinians in Gaza are on the brink of famine. The war began with Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which left around 1,200 dead.
As soon as the war began, ElHelou said she began making attempts to leave Gaza, where she's lived since 1988. The State Department estimated in late 2023 that around 300 American citizens, permanent legal residents or their parents and young children remained trapped by the fighting. A spokesperson didn't reply to a question on how many remain now.
In March 2024, ElHelou learned from the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem that she, her youngest son, Ayham, and her daughter, Banan, appeared on a final exit list at the Rafah border. Ayham is now 8, and Banan is 12. Almotasem, her now-16-year-old son, wasn't on the list, however. ElHelou was 'astonished' that she was forced to make what her attorneys described in court documents as a ''Sophie's Choice.'' She and her husband were estranged before the war began.
An email ElHelou said she received from the embassy stated that the 'U.S. government does not control whose names appear on the crossing list nor who is permitted to depart Gaza or enter Egypt.' The email also said the State Department will 'continue to advocate for U.S. citizens … to depart Gaza via the Rafah border crossing.'
Israeli troops later seized control of that border, and ElHelou said she had limited contact with U.S. officials afterward until March of this year. She received a call and email from the embassy letting her know that there is an opportunity to leave Gaza without her children. ElHelou said she again replied that she couldn't leave them.
'It is unthinkable and inhumane to expect a mother to abandon her children in a war zone,' she said. 'My children have the same right to safety as any American citizen, and they must be evacuated with me.'
ElHelou pleaded with the U.S. government to help her family, saying she wants her children to live peacefully, attend school, eat enough food, have friends and sleep without fear of bombings. She also said Almotasem needs proper medical care after his back was torn open from stone blocks during an Israeli airstrike on a nearby home about a year ago. He had trouble breathing after.
'(My) children are suffering immensely. They have no educational environment, no health care, no adequate or balanced nutrition, no medication and no entertainment,' she said. 'They live in constant fear as the bombings and shelling continue day and night.'
U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth's office indicated they're aware of and monitoring the situation. A spokesperson for U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin said, 'We don't have anything to share on this.'
Altabet, the attorney representing the government, acknowledged at last week's hearing the 'terrible choice' ElHelou had to make. He referenced, however, a statute that requires the secretary of state to develop policies for the evacuation of private U.S. citizens. He said ElHelou is the only plaintiff from the suit who is both a citizen and is still stranded in Gaza, and that because she rejected an evacuation offer, it's a 'self-inflicted injury.'
The judge quickly interjected.
'That's a terrible choice to make, and probably one that any mother would make. If I can't leave with my kids, I'm staying, right?' Kendall said.
When Marowa Abusharia's phone calls to her husband manage to go through, the conversations usually devolve into a cadence of 'Hello, hello, can you hear me?' due to a shaky internet connection.
Abusharia lives with her 20-month-old twin daughters in New Jersey. Her husband, Loai Abusharia, remains in Gaza, where crumbling internet and phone service often prevents him from talking to his wife and children, she said. In fact, her children have never met their father, except on a dark phone screen.
'They don't know the man on the screen, so anybody I talk to right now they think that's Baba,' Abusharia told the Tribune while in Chicago. 'And he is losing hope too, like he's saying, 'I am afraid that I will lose you, that I might die anytime,' and that he's not gonna meet me and the girls.'
Abusharia was one of three plaintiffs who testified at the hearing, where she detailed the steps she's taken to try to evacuate her husband. Abusharia said she's called New Jersey politicians, filled out a crisis intake form for assistance from the State Department, emailed government officials and talked to the media, but with no success.
Abusharia met her husband, who she described as a 'caring' and a 'respectful' man, through their families. They were engaged for about a year and a half, before marrying in Gaza in 2019, she said.
About four years later, she returned to New Jersey to give birth to her twin girls. Her husband planned to join her after an interview for his green card, which was scheduled in Jordan for October 2023, she said. The family's plans were derailed, however, when Loai couldn't leave Gaza due to the war.
'I hoped he would be able to come with me to the hospital for our newborns, but he never made it,' Abusharia said, adding, 'I feel like the government has abandoned us. He could have been here with us for almost two years.'
Her husband is now living in what remains of their home, she said, which has no windows or walls. During a recent phone call, he told her he was 'so hungry' and that he'd been surviving on canned food. She wants him to be able to hug their 'beautiful, troublemaker' daughters one day.
'I am still here, and I'm fighting until my last breath,' Abusharia said. 'This (lawsuit) is my last hope.'
Another plaintiff, Sahar Harara, said her experience underscores the importance of timely evacuations. Harara testified in court that her parents, Mariam and Mufid Harara, were in Gaza visiting family when the war began. Harara is a U.S. citizen from Dallas, and her parents are green-card holders.
Harara's parents were both approved to leave, she testified, but only her mother's name appeared on a final exit list. She said her now-75-year-old mom couldn't leave on her own because of health issues, and chose to remain in Gaza. Last June, while waiting for the chance to leave together, Mufid died in a bombing, she said.
She remembers her father as 'very active, very happy and very social.' One of his favorite pastimes was biking, Harara said. She said many of his neighbors knew him personally, and when he biked to the store or mosque he'd frequently stop to chat.
Harara said her mother was fortunately evacuated back to the U.S. in May, which made her 'so happy.' But her mom isn't the same person she used to know because of the trauma she experienced, Harara said. Her mom was terrified during a recent thunderstorm, for example, because of the loud sounds.
'When it comes to our situation … no answered phone calls, no answered emails and after that it's 'We're sorry for your loss,'' Harara told the Tribune. 'If (the U.S. government) answered my emails and phone calls at the right time, I (could) have my father with me.'