Abed from Almere went to a wedding in Gaza. Now he’s stuck there while the bombs explode

Normally, Abed Al Attar (32) from Almere City places solar panels on Dutch roofs. “I do that with all my heart, for everyone who needs me. I have done my best to help the Netherlands grow. Always paid taxes. But now that I need the Netherlands, they can’t do anything for me.”

Abed wants to talk about everything this Tuesday evening, from his family’s home in Deir-al-Balah where he waits with 29 adults and children for what is to come. He describes how he saw dead bodies on the street after a bombing and had to run for his life when he saw two rockets hit the no man’s land between Gaza and Egypt at the border crossing. But when he is asked about his wife and two daughters, who are still in the Netherlands, he falls silent. “I can’t talk about this,” he says. “Then I have to cry.”

Doctor’s assistant

On the way to school in Almere, Fatma Al Attar (26) – “I am studying to become a doctor’s assistant” – talks about the loss of her husband Abed, who, like her father, is in Gaza. “At any time of the day I fear the news that he has been affected.” Their daughters, aged 2 and 6, don’t let them see anything.

Abed tells his story by telephone this Tuesday evening from the coastal city. How he returned to his family in Gaza for the second time in almost ten years to see his cousin Ahmed get married. “His party was planned for Saturday, October 7. But then suddenly it was war. So that didn’t happen.”

And then I say: but then call Egypt. Do something.

Two days later he began to realize how hopeless the situation was and called the Dutch embassies in Israel and Egypt. The next day he called again and there was still contact this Monday. While he was calling the diplomats, the rockets hit at the border crossing. “They stayed on the line and heard everything. The impact, the running, the screaming. But then they said it again: we can’t do anything for you. And then I say: but then call Egypt, do something. But then they say that’s not possible. While, you can call, right?”

Red area

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs points out that Gaza was already a ‘red area’ before the Hamas attack, which means that it advises against all travel to the strip and indicates that it will probably not be able to provide consular assistance (see box). But Abed was not aware that it was ‘code Red’. “If we had known that, of course we wouldn’t have gone. But we went with what we knew. It wasn’t a war, was it? And I hardly ever go to Gaza. This was my chance to see my family again. We were looking forward to good things. A wedding!”

Abed Al-Qader Al-Attar

In the meantime, he spends his days waiting. Whenever he has electricity and internet, he contacts his wife and his employer, the Hellozon company. He also updates his social media. For example, he shares images showing from a balcony how the Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza City explodes. “Do you remain normal when you see this destruction?” he writes.

“Nothing is normal here. We eat the bread that my mother can still bake, with some thyme, and sometimes stand in line for hours for a bucket of salt water. Meat is no longer for sale anywhere, because the freezer cannot function without electricity. Vegetables are still there, but very expensive, because the farms that are still here can no longer harvest.” Every now and then his family and colleagues send him some money for basic needs. “But to be honest, I don’t feel like eating at all. You see so much death, so much blood. Then you can’t really think about food.”

Amin’s wife called the embassy on Monday. “She is a better communicator than me.” To their frustration, the embassy staff kept talking about Israel. “While: it is Palestine. The fact that they can’t even acknowledge that says it all. The seven hundred Dutch people who were in Israel have long since returned home. Do we not count then?”

Double passport

During the interview with Abed, an unconfirmed report emerged via an American news channel that Hamas would be willing to release the hostages if the bombings stop. Would he welcome that? “I want the prisoners on both sides to be released.”

But isn’t he angry with Hamas, the organization that entered Israel on his cousin’s wedding day and unleashed an unprecedented massacre? “God has already given us life. There is absolutely no reason for a human being to end the life of another human being. There is no need for either side to kill.”

When night falls he prepares for new bombs. “Bomb, bomb, bomb,” it sounds. Very dull. Although you are also happy when you hear something, because this means that the bombs are far enough away. If you don’t hear them, they will fall on you and you will immediately fall apart into pieces.”

Abed will no longer go to the Rafah border crossing this Wednesday, “that is too dangerous”, but continues to hope for a message from the embassy that he can leave the Gaza Strip with his Dutch passport. Doesn’t a double passport give you mixed feelings? After all, many family members, including his parents, cannot leave. “My body then leaves Gaza, but my heart and my head remain here. And at least I can send money from the Netherlands.” He is silent for a moment. “Although money obviously means nothing if everyone is soon dead. And if nothing changes, it just happens.”