Texas pizza shop owner stranded in Gaza makes safe crossing into Egypt

HOUSTON, US

A Texas pizza shop owner stranded in Gaza with his four brothers and nephew has made safe passage into Egypt and will soon be heading back to the US.

Hesham Kaoud exited Gaza, where Israel has continued bombardment since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, through the Rafah crossing into Egypt on Saturday, according to the CNN, which spoke with his wife Haifa.

The couple owns Milano's Pizza in the city of Waxahachie about 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Dallas.

Two of Hesham's brothers were also able to escape Gaza last week, but his two other brothers and nephew are still trapped in the conflict zone.

Asked if she was relieved that her husband was safe, Haifa said: “Sure, however, we are still waiting for the others.”

The rest of the Kaoud family is from California. They have been receiving assistance and support from the Los Angeles chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA), which has been pleading with the Biden administration, lawmakers and the US embassies in Los Angeles, Washington, DC, Jerusalem and Cairo to rescue all Palestinian Americans stuck in Gaza.

While nearly 300 American citizens have been rescued over the past week, CAIR-LA told Anadolu that Palestinian Americans have been given a lower priority than Israeli Americans.

"The US government rushed to get Jewish and Israeli people out of Gaza, but not Palestinians," said CAIR-LA executive director Hussam Ayloush. "Palestinian Americans feel like they're second class citizens in their own country."

"The State Department immediately took action to support Israeli Americans to come back to the US, but it completely ignored Palestinian American families who were pleading for the safety and protection of their loved ones," Ayloush continued.

CAIR-LA said its work will not stop until all Palestinian Americans are able to leave Gaza safely. "The US government should treat everyone equally," said Ayloush. "But we see a huge difference between the treatment of Israelis and the treatment of Palestinians in this country."