An MP left Victoria Derbyshire open-mouthed after she revealed the many “torturous” hours she has spent waiting for news from her relatives living in Gaza.
Layla Moran, the Liberal Democrat MP for Oxford West and Abingdon told the BBC presenter she had spent nearly two full agonising days waiting for news from her family after the strip was caught in a communications blackout.
Palestinians have accused Israel of plunging them into near-total digital darkness this weekend, with their telephone and internet connections abruptly severed on Friday, October 27.
Israeli soldiers have since launched a “ground operation” on the Gaza Strip seeking Hamas militants, sparking fears that the territory’s roughly 2.2 million strong civilian population could be caught in the crossfire.
Ms Moran, whose mother is Palestinian, said her extended family is now safe following nearly two days without contact but that their thoughts have turned to their possible deaths.
Speaking to Ms Derbyshire this morning, the Lib Dem spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and International Development explained she had just endured a “torturous” 24 to 48 hours without contact from her family.
She said her family of Christian Palestinians had left for their local church after an IDF bomb hit their home in the days following Hamas’ October 7 atrocities on Israel.
She added that “for now, they’re safe”, but described how conversations about the conflict have changed over the last few days.
Ms Moran said: “No longer are people saying ‘Where do we go to be safe?’ The question they are now asking is ‘where do we want to be when we die?’”
A shocked Ms Derbyshire responded, saying: “Oh my God.”
Ms Moran went on to counter claims that Hamas was preventing people from leaving Palestine.
She said it was “deeply offensive to suggest that Hamas is giving my family any kind of marching orders”.
Palestinians have been warned by Israeli officials to leave their homes in parts of Gaza inside the IDF’s operation areas, but they have complained there is no safe place where they can evacuate.
Speaking to the BBC, Abu Qusai Al-Deeb, who has been sheltering at the Al-Quds hospital in Gaza City for the last three weeks, said he has received six warnings to evacuate the hospital.
But he said there is no safe place “in the whole of Gaza” where people can travel.
Mr Al-Deeb said: “We told them, identify safe places and we will leave the hospital. There’s no safe place, not in the south, nor in the whole of Gaza.”
