Washington, DC “Verified receipt.” After two of Yasmeen Elagha’s relatives, who are both Palestinian Americans, were arrested by Israeli soldiers while seeking refuge close to Khan Younis in southern Gaza, it was the only communication she ever received from the US government.
She is now pleading with US President Joe Biden’s administration to take more action to ensure their safety and obtain their release. Elagha stated that her two cousins, Hashem Alagha, 20, and Borak Alagha, 18, are being imprisoned without being charged.
Elagha, a law student at Northwestern University in Chicago, clarified, “We’ve pleaded with the US government.” “The administration is completely dereliction of duty.”
As the conflict on Gaza rages on, her family is among several advocating for the protection of Palestinian Americans detained by Israel. To demand action, they convened for a news conference on Monday in Washington, DC.
Elagha said from the stage that she spoke with her aunt in Gaza on February 7 and found out of her cousins’ kidnapping. Her aunt described, with tears in her eyes, how the women and children were bound up as Israeli soldiers broke into their refuge in al-Mowasi, close to Khan Younis.
The males had an alternative outcome. Elagha’s aunt told how the two cousins were carried away, along with their father, uncle, and two other male relatives. Elagha’s aunt claims that the family’s car tires were cut by the soldiers, and the shelter was left in a wrecked state. Since then, none of the males have been heard from.
Elagha has been bombarding US embassies in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Cairo with emails in the days that have passed, along with a US task force on Gaza. Only one response has been sent to her, verifying that her request was acknowledged.
She claimed that it has been agonizing to wait for information. “It seems like it has been a month since they left, because the minutes seem like hours.”
