Calgarian fleeing Gaza arrives to emotional embrace

It was an incredibly emotional scene Thursday evening at the Calgary International Airport, as friends and family awaited the arrival of a Calgarian fleeing Gaza.

“I’m so excited to hug him and touch him,” Zein Abu Hassira, the son of Tamir Abu Hassira.

Zein, 11, and his 14-year-old sister Leemar have lost countless family members in the past few weeks, as they were killed during the war in Gaza.

They spent the past month wishing they could see their dad once more and, Thursday evening, that special moment arrived with an unyielding embrace filled with relief and hurt.

When Tamir fled Gaza, he had to leave his family behind.

“I’m safe here, okay? But what about my family? It’s not safe,” he told CityNews. “No one is safe in Gaza.”

He was able to leave because he is a Canadian citizen, but the path to exit was anything but easy.

Tamir faced bombardment on three occasions before he was able to escape.

His daughter Leemar is feeling conflicting emotions.

“I feel so good right now and happy,” she said. “But also we don’t have to forget about our families there.

If you build the schools again, there is no children to go to schools or universities. That’s not fair.”

Many in attendance are feeling that same hurt, finding a small reason to rejoice, as many have parents and siblings who have been killed in Gaza.

Others are worrying endlessly about those who are still alive.

“My grandparents, my uncles, my cousins, all of them are still there right now under the war,” Rama Diab, a close friend of Leemar’s, told CityNews. “I don’t know if I’m going to ever see them again.”

The family is together once again with a new appreciation for each other’s presence.

“I just [missed] him a lot and I’m going to hug him every single day,” Zein said.