Thousands of people have left Gaza since the ceasefire – only seven bound for Australia have been on ‘the list’

Palestinian father Hazem Sabawi was granted a visa to come to Australia in the days after burying his son under a tree in their besieged North Gaza neighbourhood.

It was a glimmer of hope for Mr Sabawi, his wife and their two surviving, injured children as they grieved the loss of 10-year-old Kareem, who was killed in an attack on their family home.

But two weeks after being granted Australian visas, the family remains trapped in Gaza.

So far, 860 Palestinians have been granted temporary visitor visas for Australia since the Israel-Gaza war began almost 10 weeks ago.

However, the ABC has learned the majority of these visa holders are still waiting for their names to be added to “the list” in order to leave Gaza through the Rafah Crossing on the border with Egypt.

Those with Australian passports are also having difficulty getting across.

Australia’s Department of Foreign Affair and Trade (DFAT) told the ABC it was currently assisting more than 80 Australian citizens, permanent residents and family members in Gaza, who have provided their names to authorities to leave Gaza.

The border crossing list is issued daily with the new names of those approved to cross into Egypt.

It is uploaded on the State of Palestine General Authority for Crossings and Borders Facebook page, which is part of the Palestinian Authority.

The United States has directed its citizens and visa holders to monitor the page.

Australian passport and visa holders have also been monitoring it closely.

The list includes the details of which country people are hoping to leave for, and their identification details.

Countries, including Australia, submit the names of the people they want to cross at Rafah to the Israeli military as well as Egyptian authorities, who can accept or reject them.

“I’ve had the Australian visa for the last two weeks. But no names at the border. It’s our only hope,” Mr Sabawi told the ABC.

“I have no other hope. We either die here or we get on that list.”

Mr Sabawi said it took him four days to bury his son due to Israel’s ground invasion in North Gaza, which came in response to the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack.

It was “like watching a horror movie” he said.

The next day, like more than a million other Palestinians in northern Gaza, Mr Sabawi and his family moved to the territory’s south to be closer to Rafah’s border crossing in the hope of leaving Gaza.

He has not yet been able to see “the list” himself because he does not have internet access because of long telecommunications outages.

However, he knows his name and the names of his wife and children have not yet been on it because relatives in Australia have been checking for him multiple times a day.

Seven Australian visa and passport holders named in list to cross Rafah border

DFAT told the ABC the Australian government was doing all it could to support Australian citizens, permanent residents, and their family members in Gaza.

However, it added the government does not control the border crossing or determine who is approved or denied departure from Gaza.

The ABC has analysed the lists over a 10-day period following the ceasefire which ended on December 1.

Only seven people with Australian visas and passports were named on the list.

Meanwhile, over the same period, there were more than 400 people with US visas and passports approved to cross the border and more than 500 for Turkey.

There were several hundred names approved every day for other countries.

Australia’s Assistant Foreign Minister Tim Watts told the ABC’s Background Briefing program the list requires sign-off from both the Israeli and the Egyptian authorities.

“But even to establish that process of sign off required intensive diplomatic work from a range of regional governments, including particularly the Qataris, but also other like-minded countries with influence in the region like the United States,” he said.

But Mr Watts said it can be incredibly difficult to secure a spot on the list.

“Sometimes it’s officials, you know, calling in favours essentially, building and drawing on those relationships that they’ve built on the ground over many years,” he said.

“I really can’t emphasise how significant an operation it is to get Australians to safety at a time like this.”

Australian visa and passport holders not ‘making the cut’

In Sydney, Ramy Shaheen told the ABC he grows frustrated as he looks at the list each day and sees hundreds of foreign passport and visa holders approved to cross the border.

He said those with Australian visas and passports aren’t “making the cut”.

Mr Shaheen said it had been more than three weeks since 20 of Mr Shaheen’s relatives started getting their visas approved, but none of them have made the list yet.

“Sometimes we even stay up late at night to see the new list as soon as it drops,” Mr Shaheen said.

“We speak with DFAT and they say it’s [a decision for] the Israelis or the Egyptians. So many people have been calling DFAT.”

Palestinian community members have been taking their concerns about the list to government officials including Education Minister Jason Clare.

Mr Clare is being approached by his local members in his seat of Blaxland, as well as Sydney’s broader Palestinian community.

But Mr Shaheen fears for his family who are scattered across Gaza because “there’s no safe place” in the Gaza Strip.

“I’m grateful Australia gave our families visas, but I’m pleading with them to pressure the Egyptians and Israelis to let them out safely,” he said.

SOURCE: ABCNEWS