A British school teacher from Manchester trapped in Gaza has told Sky News how she feels “insignificant” after the Foreign Office told her they “can’t do anything more” to help her leave.
Zaynab Wandawi has been in Gaza for more than three weeks with 10 members of her husband’s family.
The group travelled to the region just days before the atrocity on 7 October which sparked the current violence.
But despite her attempts to leave via the Rafah Border into Egypt, the 29-year-old teacher said they can’t get through.
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Messages shared with Sky News between Zaynab and a British Foreign Office official show her pleading for help.
On Saturday night, the official says: “Hi Zaynab, how are you doing for food and water? Do you have any injuries?”
She replied saying: “We don’t have much – we barely eat and drink as there’s nothing left. Water is a luxury that we are not privy to.”
Messages exchanged between Zaynab and British Foreign Office official
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) official says they aren’t hearing anything about when it (Rafah border) will be open.
Zaynab replies: “The longer we are here – the higher the chance that we will not make it to the Rafah border. I honestly don’t think they know how much our lives are at risk.”
In response, the official sends a sad face, saying: “I really don’t understand why they are taking so long.”
Sky News understands intensive diplomacy between the UK, Israel and Egypt took place this weekend to work out a plan to open the Rafah border.
Zaynab Wandawi says she is desperate to leave Gaza
Speaking to Sky News from Gaza on Monday, Zaynab said she was desperate to leave because the situation was “very scary and not safe”.
“It made me feel like they don’t even consider me a British national, it made me feel insignificant to be honest,” she…
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Source: news.sky.com
This notice was published: 2023-10-30 22:30:00
Sky News is a British 24-hour information television channel, the first in Europe of its kind, launched on February 5, 1989 by the British Sky Broadcasting Company.