An Adelaide man is pleading with the Australian government to help negotiate his family’s safe exit from Gaza, after becoming trapped in the occupied territory during Israeli air raids.
The family of four from Adelaide’s northern suburbs – the only Australians known to be in Gaza – had been visiting family in the region for two weeks after 12 years apart before the war broke out.
The man, who did not want to be identified for safety reasons, says his family is in immediate danger and has seen airstrikes as close as 100m from them.
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“Our beloved children are living in a constant state of fear, and with each passing day, the availability of food and clean water dwindles further,” he said in a letter to the federal government.
“On Monday, we survived death with a miracle. We evacuated the house we were staying in, just a few minutes before the building next door was bombed.
“Today, the power generation plant was shut down due to a critical fuel shortage, and internet access is no longer available.
“This might be my last message to anyone.
“Please can the government negotiate an exit strategy through Egypt?”
7NEWS understands the Adelaide family are the only Australians in Gaza to contact the government for help, however, with power supply and internet services failing there could be others trying to make contact.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed it was providing assistance to an Australian family in the Gaza Strip.
“Owing to our privacy obligations, we cannot provide further comment,” a spokesperson said.
The latest conflict in Gaza comes after the militant organisation Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel on Saturday, with gunmen arriving at more than 22 locations, where they killed scores of civilians and soldiers.
At a music festival, militants were captured in video footage shooting and killing revellers at point-blank range, and then looting their belongings.
So far, 1,200 Israelis have been killed and more than 2,700 have been wounded.
In Gaza, 1,100 people have been killed and 5,339 wounded, Gaza’s Health Ministry said.
The Israeli airstrikes have bombed Al-Shati and Jabalia refugee camps, Palestinian Red Crescent ambulances and a number of mosques.
Locals said the strikes happened without prior warning, unlike previous times when violence has escalated.
Israel controls most of Gaza’s electricity, water, fuel and some of its food through a strict land, sea and air blockade that was tightened this week, cutting off supplies to about 2.3 million people.
Palestinian authorities have said Gaza’s sole power plant would run out of fuel on Wednesday afternoon local time, plunging the Strip into darkness.
Authorities warn hospitals could turn into morgues as fuel stock for their generators finishes by Thursday.
Three Australian evacuation flights from Israel have been prepared for approximately 10,000 Australian citizens and tourists stuck in the war. The first of the flights begins on Friday.
The Adelaide man said he made an immediate attempt to flee to Egypt when the conflict began but was denied an exit from Gaza as he had not registered his family’s travel plans earlier.
He is urging Foreign Minister Penny Wong to negotiate an exit strategy through the Rafah Border Crossing to Egypt, to ensure the safety of people like him stuck in Gaza.
But the crossing, which was organised through a peace treaty in 1979, has been the target of an air raid over the past several days.
“A DFAT staff member reached out to me earlier, but no tangible progress has been made since,” the Adelaide man said.
“No Australian should be left out of the consular assistance provided to other Australians.”
A spokesperson for Foreign Minister Penny Wong referred requests for comment to a social media post where Wong said, the “Australian Government is assessing all options for Australians wanting to leave”.
“We understand the difficulties with limited commercial options. If you want to leave and do have a viable option, we encourage you to pursue that.” she tweeted.
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