The mother of a sailor in the US Navy was reportedly evacuated from Gaza in a joint effort by US officials, American military veterans, and the Israel Defense Forces.

Ahlam Firwana, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday night, crossed the war-torn territory, from Gaza City in the north to the Kerem Shalom Border Crossing in the south, over the course of 19 hours last month. She is now in Jordan.

Firwana is one of hundreds of dual nationals to have been evacuated from Gaza over the course of the two-year war, and a rare case since US President Donald Trump suspended visitor visas from Gaza in August. Thousands of sick Palestinians and their caregivers have also been evacuated with Israeli coordination.

Firwana’s son, Younis, who gained US citizenship via his military service, has been trying to get his family out of northern Gaza for a year and a half. An online fundraising appeal posted by his wife, Amanda Hancock, in April 2024, said the family’s home in the area had been destroyed, and that 19 of his relatives were living in a house with 50 people.

“Now they’re eating birdseed to survive because there’s hardly any food left in North Gaza,” she wrote at the time. “They haven’t seen any fruit or vegetables for months. It’s dangerous for........

© The Times of Israel