'We might die': Moncton woman fears for Gaza siblings

Rola Baker texts back and forth with her two brothers and three sisters in Gaza several times a day.

The Moncton, N.B., woman survived war and the threat of war up until she left her home 11 years ago.

Baker can’t help but watch the news; she feels like she has to, but she knows her siblings may not survive.

“When texting them, they say goodbye to me. Can you imagine? So, they might die. They say, ‘Pray for us, pray for us. We might die.’ It’s really horrible.”

Recent fighting between Israel and Hamas began on Oct. 7 when an estimated 260 Israeli civilians were killed while attending the Tribe of Nova music festival in a rural area near the Gaza-Israel border.

Since then, more than 4,000 people have been killed, the deadliest of the five Gaza wars for both sides.

Ammar Younus has survived three wars.

Originally from Iraq, he’s now a settlement manager for the Multicultural Agency of the Greater Moncton Area.

He too has been watching the news from Gaza and has a first hand experience of living within a humanitarian crisis.

“People there are just waiting to die at any minute, this is their situation. They are without electricity. They are without water. They are without food. They are without medicine,” said Younus.

Seeing images of war on his television brings back horrible memories of when he was studying to become a doctor in Baghdad during the Gulf War in 1991.

Younus recalled one experience where he saw several children killed in a bombing attack.

“Many of the kids, they were just like pieces of charcoal. So what I see now, yeah, it brings new worries,” said Younus. “It is the worst thing that you can experience in your life.”

Baker says her former neighbourhood is gone and her family has next to nothing.

“Dead. That’s how I can explain it. There’s no life there. No basic life, electricity, water, internet,” she said. “My sister, she’s always hugging her kids. She’s afraid either she will die or her kids will die.”

The killing on both sides deeply saddens Baker and she’s constantly thinking about her siblings.

“Now, at this moment, I just want them to be safe,” said Baker. “Stay alive at least.”

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