Canadian Palestinian brothers, born and raised in Ontario, and their family are trapped in Gaza: Mahmood, Abdel, Moe, and Ahmad Kouta.  Mahmood has an 18 month old baby. Abdel has two young daughters, one of whom was delivered during the bombardment.  They are begging to leave and get their family back to Canada safely. If they survive the bombardment, they and their children will not survive the famine and disease brought about by mass displacement. Ahmad, a nurse,  is stuck in the north and still working to help as many as he can. 

From Mahmoud:
"It's hard to find the words and the strength to make this page. I, Mahmoud Kouta, am a Canadian citizen, born in Ontario, and I'm currently trapped in Gaza. I came to Gaza 3 years ago to study my bachelor's degree which I was close to finishing, but my education was forced to end. Because I lost the chance to finish my studies, I worry about finding work to rebuild my family's life once we can get back to Canada. Our present and future is very dangerous and I just want to bring my family to safety and support my community right now." 

From Abdel:

"My name is Abdel-Rahman Kouta, I am a Canadian citizen stuck in Southern Gaza with my 2 young daughters and wife. We have been sheltering with hundreds of displaced families for the last few months, at a school that’s become our community shelter.  I was born in Ontario but came to Gaza 6 years ago for my education. I majored in architectural studies and graduated in 2021 I delivered my second daughter amidst the chaos we are currently in, with the help of my mother before we were forced to evacuate our homes behind us and left to the south with nothing. Creating a big loss for my little family. My parents were able to evacuate Gaza soon after this, but being granted to leave Gaza now is a more difficult process."

The issue is bureacratic. The Canadian government is failing in its obligation and duty of care to Canadians trapped in Gaza that wish to leave and return back to our country. 

Despite telling Canadians they are actively evacuating families, it's simply not true.  For example, an individual or family may be permitted to leave in theory - they have their passport, all the papers, are on the governments' list to leave -  but if they are not on the exit list at Rafah crossing, they don't get to leave. This particular 'exit list' at Rafah crossing is updated daily based on what nation states pass on to the state of Israel who then communicates that information to the Egyptian side of Rafah.  Canadians are not on the Rafah exit list because our government is not actively ensuring and pressuring Israel their citizens urgently get on the exit list.

Sign and share widely to demand PM Trudeau, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Melanie Joly, and Marc Miller, Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship to do their job and quickly.  As a government, they have actively enabled Gaza to become the devastating humanitarian crisis it has become. The very least they can do is ensure Canadians who wish to leave Gaza can do so safely and quickly.