Earlier this year, the federal Department of State authorized the plaintiffs’ evacuation from Gaza. However, their names were left off the agency’s final crossing list for the Rafah border crossing, located along the Gaza-Egypt border.
A small coalition of Palestinian-Americans has filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration, claiming that they, and their families, have spent months “trapped” in Gaza.
According to The Guardian, the plaintiffs listed in the complaint include Khalid Mourtaga, Salsabeel Elhelou, Sahar Harara, Sawsan Kahil, Marowa Abusharia, Mohanad Alnajjar, Mariam Alrayes, Heba Enayeh, and Samia Abualreesh.
All of the plaintiffs are U.S. citizens, permanent residents, or their immediate relatives.
Earlier this year, the federal Department of State authorized the plaintiffs’ evacuation from Gaza. However, their names were left off the agency’s final crossing list for the Rafah border crossing, located along the Gaza-Egypt border.
The lawsuit notes that the State Department appears to have gone to greater lengths in securing “departure assistance on cruise ships for Americans and their families wishing to depart Israel and come to the United States” on 13 October, shortly after Hamas launched its near-unprecedented attack on Israel.
“Everyone holding a United States passport in Israel, whether or not they had registered with the United States embassy in Jerusalem, was allowed to board [the cruise ships],” the lawsuit alleges. “Passengers were greeted with champagne, mimosas, and lavish buffets. In one instance, the Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, funded a flight to evacuate Floridians from Israel.”
The lawsuit provides several other instances of U.S. action, including evacuations from Afghanistan and Sudan. It also notes that “there have been multiple U.S.-coordinated evacuations from Gaza,” including a case where “the Unite States government worked closely with Israel authorities to secure the safe extraction of a United States citizen’s parent.”
Notably, the Rafah crossing abuts Egypt—not Israel.
Maria Kari, an attorney whose office is representing the plaintiffs, urged the Biden administration to act quickly.
“The Biden administration has exactly a month to act because it does not want the death of those Americans to be its enduring legacy,” Kari said.
Kari posited the lawsuit as a last-ditch attempt to save her clients, emphasizing that President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to bar refugees from Gaza and expand the “Muslim travel ban” he attempted to enact during his first term in office.
Notably, neither plan could legally bar the return of U.S. citizens to the United States.
“This administration’s refusal to treat Americans in Gaza the same as Americans in other conflict zones is part of its systemic dehumanization and delegitimization of Palestinian-American life and suffering,” Kari said. “While waiting to evacuate, our plaintiffs have suffered all sorts of horrors. All of these people could be killed by Israel bombardment or from disease and starvation any day.”v
Sources
Lawsuit by Americans in Gaza Who Say Biden Administration Abandoned Them
Palestinian Americans trapped in Gaza sue Biden administration
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