Brazilian Shahed al-Banna, who lives in the Gaza Strip, reported to CNN this Wednesday (11) the moments of tension experienced in the last few hours in the place, the target of retaliatory attacks in Israel after the attacks carried out by the radical Islamic group Hamas, on Saturday (7).
At 18 years old, Shahed al-Banna lives in Al-Zaytoon, a district located in Gaza, in the Palestinian territory. The young Brazilian still doesn’t know when and if she will be able to leave the region.
“The Israelis called my grandmother to tell her that we have to empty the house, because they are going to attack her. Either today, or tomorrow, we don’t know,” she said.
“It’s been four days since we left home, but they still called to confirm the attack. We are at my aunt’s house, and they called my aunt’s husband just now saying that they are going to attack a house right next to her house, where we are now”, reported the young woman.
Shahed also described, in messages sent to CNN , the situation inside the house where she is. “The house is filled with the smell of gunpowder. It’s hard to breathe,” she said.
The Brazilian also said that she is trying to return to Brazil. He said he was certain that the Brazilian government “is doing everything” to negotiate a land exit, across the border with Egypt.
According to Itamaraty, the idea is that Brazilians who are in the Gaza Strip leave the region through the Rafah “checkpoint”, Gaza’s only border with another country besides Israel.
The Brazilian, however, reported that it is “complicated and dangerous” to travel to the location indicated by the Brazilian government for the crossing. According to the young woman, Israel is also attacking the location near Egypt.
Shahed is in a house with his grandmother, his sister and 18 other people. The place, according to the Brazilian, is not safe. To make matters worse, the number of people in the property is expected to increase this Wednesday, as the number of people asking for help and shelter continues to grow.
“There are more than 20 people here, and the majority are women and children. Everyone is innocent, who is not to blame. We don’t have enough time to leave because we’re afraid of being hurt, so we’re going to stay here until the attack ends,” he reports.
The dialogue, which took place through a text messaging application, had to be interrupted at a certain point because the internet signal was unstable and Shahed had little charge on his cell phone. She doesn’t know when she will be able to carry it again.
“My cell phone is about to turn off. We’ve been without power for three days,” she concluded.
A few hours later, the Brazilian informed that the power had been restored, but that the internet remained unstable.
Source: CNN Brasil
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