Laila Bseisso felt a great sense of relief at the prospect of leaving the heavily bombed enclave, but she also became more concerned when she saw her name on a new list of 400 Americans authorized to leave the Gaza Strip and escape the brutal war between Israel and Hamas through the Rafah border crossing into Egypt on Thursday.
The names of 400 American citizens who were granted permission to enter Egypt on Thursday were listed in a list made public by the Interior Ministry of Gaza, which is under the control of Hamas. However, Bseisso, an Ohio native and mother of Palestinian descent, was shocked to see that the names listed did not include two of her young children.
Bseisso is a mother of three. The eldest, 12-year-old Hassan, is an American citizen; however, his siblings, Mohamed, 7, and Nada, 10, were born in Gaza. They are not in possession of US passports. Laila Bseisso and her three children are waiting at the Egyptian side of the crossing even though the Palestinian border authorities have allowed her to pass through their border gate.
Bseisso had believed that the U.S. State Department would permit travel with U.S. passport holders for members of their immediate family. According to a statement released by the State Department in October, the United States “would continue to work urgently in partnership with Egypt and Israel to facilitate the ability of U.S. citizens and their immediate family members to exit Gaza safely and travel via Egypt to their final destinations.”
Susan Beseiso, an American cousin of Bseisso who was also waiting to cross the border, told CBS News on Wednesday that she had received instructions from the State Department stating that “U.S. citizens and family members will be assigned specific departure dates to ensure an orderly crossing.”
The mother of Palestinian-Americans, Bseisso, made multiple calls to the U.S. Embassy in Cairo to inquire about the status of her children. In an attempt to secure permission for her children to depart with her, embassy representatives informed Bseisso that they had forwarded her children’s names to the Egyptian government.
“They just requested the names of my two unlisted children, and they informed me that I could choose to wait,” Bseisso said to CBS News on Thursday. “You know, crossing the border back there is risky,” I informed them. I’ve been here five times, and each time is difficult; there is never a guarantee, and I’m at a loss for what to do.”
“Expecting a mother to depart without her children is absurd,” Bseisso remarked.
Bseisso had gone to the Rafah crossing with her extended family in the hopes that they would all travel to Egypt and then the United States together. However, she arrived at the crossing alone, her children in tow, and had no idea what to do next.
The staff of the American embassy welcomed her when she arrived in Egypt. After completing her children’s documentation, they were granted entry into Egypt. After passing through the border, the family began traveling by bus to Cairo.
