An Australian family who fled war-torn Gaza is relieved to be back on home soil after landing in Adelaide overnight.
The family of four, who requested not to be identified for safety reasons, travelled to the Middle East for the first time in 12 years to visit family, just before the conflict broke out.
There were emotional scenes at Adelaide airport as the family arrived home.
The father said they were relieved to be back in Australia and thanked Department of Foreign Affairs officials for their assistance in helping them leave Gaza.
“‘I’m very tired and exhausted. Everyone we met or talked to on the phone was very patient,” he said.
The family was among the 25 Australians allowed to leave Gaza through the Rafah border crossing into Egypt.
It was opened under an international agreement to enable foreign nationals to leave the besieged territory.
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Israeli military strikes killed multiple civilians on Saturday at a UN shelter and hospital in the main combat zone in the Gaza Strip as the assault intensified on the besieged enclave’s Hamas rulers amid growing international uproar over the soaring death toll and deepening humanitarian crisis.
Israel’s military has said it has encircled Gaza City, the target of its offensive to crush Hamas, but on Saturday offered a three-hour window for residents trapped by the fighting to flee south.
Before and after: Satelite images show Gaza damage
The new attacks came as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in the region trying to find ways to ease the plight of the civilians caught in the fighting.
He met with Arab foreign ministers on Saturday in Jordan, the day after talks in Israel with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who insisted there can be no temporary cease-fire until all hostages held by Hamas are released.
– Reported with Associated Press
