Samaiya Mushtaq on May 10 was just texting her husband, Dr. Mahmoud Sabha, 39, about how she looked forward to being in their Irving home.
They messaged about being with their two young children, eating waffles and drinking lattes while chatting the night away.
“And then I found out like an hour later that he wasn’t coming home,” Mushtaq said Wednesday in a phone conversation with The Dallas Morning News.
Sabha, a medical doctor, went to Gaza in early May for his second humanitarian mission through the World Health Organization to be a wound care physician. His first trip to the war-stricken region was in late-March through mid-April. His second trip, during which he worked from the European Hospital near Khan Younis, was scheduled to end Monday, Mushtaq said.
But it wasn’t until Friday that Sabha and members of his cohort arrived in Jerusalem.
A trip to help those in need
Sabha is among a group of medical workers put together by the Palestinian American Medical Association. Nineteen health care professionals — including 10 U.S. citizens — went to Gaza to provide aid, according to a Monday news release from the association. The team also includes people from Jordan, Egypt and Australia.
They were denied exit from Gaza following the Rafah border closure, Monday’s release stated.
“We at PAMA urge the U.S. government, President [Joe] Biden, the U.S. State Department and all official bodies to bring our American doctors and nurses back to their families,” Monday’s release said. “We also would seek your assistance to send much needed medical mission teams safely into Gaza.”
A state department spokesman said Thursday that U.S. was “engaged” with the authorities who control the Rafah crossing to “advocate” for citizens to be allowed out of Gaza.
Even as Israel Defense Forces took the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing May 7, Sabha said he and others on the medical team were doubtful that they would be stranded.
“We heard news, like, maybe we may not be able to leave. A few days before, we were like, ‘OK, this is just rumors, we’re not technically stuck here,’” he said. “But then, you know, it turned out to be true.”
Friday morning, Sabha texted a reporter from The News and said he and at least four others from his team made it to Jerusalem.
What it was like in Gaza
Between Monday and Wednesday afternoon, Sabha said there had been no update on when or how they would return home. He said he missed his wife and children; not knowing when his daughter will be able to see her “Baba” was taking a toll on his mental health.
“I guess the uncertainty of this, too, is what’s difficult,” he said, as the call briefly cut in-and-out. “I don’t know if you can hear the bombs going off.”
Sabha said Wednesday he and the other medical volunteers had become accustomed to the roar of explosions, but the sound of gunfire close by was unnerving.
The hospital compound members of the medical team were at had food and water, but they were rationing much of the supplies, Sabha said.
Sabha said he and the medical volunteers were eager to leave, but also were deeply concerned about the ability for medical aid to flow into Gaza, given the closure of the Rafah border crossing. They also heard from Palestinians who were scared of what might happen to the hospital compound when the humanitarian workers left the area.
“They’ve heard that some of the [non-government organizations] were evacuated and then after that, that’s when the raids came to inside the hospital,” Sabha said.
‘The look on their faces’
Sabha and others made friendships with their patients, many of whom are children. Some of the kids, as well as the people who care for them, have lost multiple limbs, Sabha said.
“You can see the look on their faces, and it’s what’s really sad,” Sabha said. “They’re just about to hit puberty, they’re about to hit that age when they start growing so much.”
Still, hearing Palestinians’ hopes for the future has been a source of hope for Sabha.
“I’ve told my wife so many times: [the patients] really give you more than you give them,” Sabha said, “because you see how they live and they’re still going about their lives. ... They just really want to this war to stop so they can start rebuilding.”
Sabha said seeing the resilience in Palestinian children keeps his spirits up. He jested that he thinks his wife misses the way he prepares tea.
“She taught me how to make it and now I make it better than her,” he said. “I experimented with it for like over a year, like almost daily with different types and how much spices I used. So, I perfected it.”
The couple married in November 2019. Mushtaq, 33, is a psychiatrist who practices in North Texas.
Mushtaq said her neighbors and friends have visited her home in the past week — she thinks the familiar faces helped her daughter keep her mind off her father’s absence.
Sabha said Friday he hopes to return to North Texas by Sunday.
Mushtaq said she’s trying to stay strong for her husband. She said her heart is also with the Palestinian civilians who will continue needing humanitarian aid.
“I have to remain hopeful so that I can support Mahmoud from here,” she said. “We have to continue to support each other despite the distance and give each other hope when the other is feeling worried.”
