Massachusetts family stranded in Gaza makes it through Rafah crossing into Egypt

Massachusetts family stranded in Gaza makes it through Rafah crossing into Egypt

The Massachusetts family stranded in Gaza amid the ongoing war between Israeli forces and Hamas terrorists has entered Egypt through the Rafah crossing and are on their way to Cairo, Fox News Digital has learned.

Abood Okal, Wafa Abuzayda and their 1-year-old son, Yousef, were visiting family in Gaza when Hamas launched its largest attack against Israel on Oct. 7. The family has been in the region since late September, and had intended to return home to Medway, Massachusetts, on Oct. 13 before the violence delayed their plans.

In an audio recording obtained by Fox News Digital, Okal explained that the family ran out of drinking water on Sunday and that a nearby desalination station had run out of fuel needed to power generators. He said they had been roaming the main roads and streets in Rafah City, where they were staying in a single-family home with 40 other people including his sister Haneen and her three kids, in search of trucks or carriages carrying tanks of 1,000 or 2,000 liters of drinking water. Haneen and her children are also Americans.

"We stood in line, I think it was for maybe about two hours, to fill one gallon. They tried to limit the portions, so ours was a gallon. And we're hoping that would last us for the rest of the day today and for most of tomorrow until we could find another place to get drinking water from," Okal said in the recording created on Monday.