A year later, families struggle to contact loved ones in Gaza

Mohammed-Sharif Alghusain's sister in Gaza is safe for now — but he says the immediate danger is never gone. 

It's been more than one year since Hamas launched its brutal Oct. 7 attack on Israel, triggering a massive and unrelenting military response and a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Across Quebec, people with family in the enclave have been scrambling to reach their loved ones as the death toll rises.

With the war widening, they say they're even more worried the next phone call could be the last.

"She's alright until now, until we're speaking, but you never know what's going to happen tomorrow," he said.

She's trapped in Gaza with her husband and their five kids, along with Alghusain's extended family.

He was brought to Canada on Nov. 7 by the federal government with his wife and two children.

Alghusain's eight-year-old daughter Suha has type one diabetes and needs medication.

"It was a very difficult decision… to choose between the life of my daughter… and leaving behind loved ones."

Ayman Oweida, who lives in Sherbrooke, has 40 cousins and nine aunts and uncles in Gaza.

He says his family in the north is struggling with access to food and clothing.

"They are in a very difficult situation, unable to purchase the most basic necessities, the most recent being just slippers for the children," Oweida said.

In the south, some are living in tents after being forced to leave the school where they were sheltering.

Eight-year-old Naeema is one of them.

Five-year-old Adam is another.

With no ceasefire in sight, Oweida says his family has lost hope.

"It's just they had so many expectations that got crushed over the past year," he said.

Omar Aljubairi has lost several family members to the war.

Getting in contact with those still alive has been irregular, he says.

"It's so difficult to get an internet connection in a tent… even though they do have mobile phones, sometimes it is so difficult to charge them because there is no electricity since almost a year."

Aljubairi says humanitarian organizations on the ground are helping provide hygiene supplies, as well as canned and preserved foods, but fresh and healthy ingredients have become very expensive, and the packages aren't consistent.

More than anything, he wants to see peace prevail across the region, but says it won't happen without political will and pressure.

"We dream of that. We would like a ceasefire…not only a ceasefire, we want peace…we hope this will all end."

All three men shared a similar sentiment that after more than 365 days of suffering, they want people to remember there are parents, children and loved ones caught in the crossfire.