Hany Elbatnigi left Gaza through the Rafah border crossing into Egypt on Tuesday with overwhelming feelings of both joy and heartbreak knowing what he's leaving behind.
"I feel that I'm born again," Elbatnigi said in an interview with CTV News Channel from a hotel room in Egypt Wednesday morning.
Elbatnigi is one of the 75 Canadians who have now successfully left Gaza through the Rafah border crossing.
He said he's grateful to have been among the lucky group of foreign nationals to have been given the green light to leave, but said he can't help but worry for everyone else left behind in Gaza, including the few hundred Canadians who remained there as of Wednesday afternoon.
Global Affairs Canada has said the government is unable to determine when or how many people can cross each day and the situation is fluid and unpredictable. A U.S. State Department spokesperson said the Rafah border crossing was closed on Wednesday due to an unspecified "security circumstance," but was expected to reopen at "regular intervals" to allow aid into the Gaza Strip and foreign nationals to depart.
"I can't understand the situation there. It's really, really terrible," Elbatnigi said, holding back tears as he described scenes of people frequently being killed and buildings getting bombed in Gaza.
"Believe it or not, when you walk in the streets, you smell bodies killed. I see dogs eating flesh of human beings."
The Palestinian Canadian said he had been aching to come home to Canada to see his family once again, including his 12-year-old son, who he said has been shedding tears every day that his father was stuck in the war-torn Palestinian territory.
Elbatnigi moved from Gaza to Canada during the war in 1967. He recently returned to Gaza to sell some land his father had given him there.
But little did he know his return would coincide with the start of a war between Israel and Hamas, which the Canadian government has designated a terrorist group.
Elbatnigi said part of his family home collapsed when Israel started launching a bombing campaign in the Gaza Strip in retaliation to the Hamas surprise attack on Oct. 7. Since then, he had to move to five different locations to escape the violence.
"We escaped to a different place by car," he said. "Even in the car, it was very hard to drive because every 100 metres, we had a bombing and a house in the ground. And we have to move from street to street."
Whenever he sought refuge, Elbatnigi said he and other civilians would go out during the day searching for food in order to survive. As for water in Gaza, he said there is no fresh water and that they would boil salty water to ensure it was safe for drinking.
"There's no clothes, no water, no electricity, no nothing," he said. "I spent three days without food, without water."
Before crossing the Egyptian border on Tuesday, Elbatnigi said he witnessed a building get bombed in front of him, which caused pressure in his ear and for his ear to bleed. He said he described this to a woman at the border, who made sure that a paramedic came to see him.
From there, he said he boarded a bus that took him to the hotel room in Egypt, where he was staying on Wednesday.
"I'm happy to go out" of Gaza, Elbatnigi said.
When asked if he expects to ever be able to return to Gaza, Elbatnigi said he did not.
"I have sisters, I have brothers there," he said, tearing up.
Elbatnigi said he's planning to fly back home to reunite with his family in Canada on Friday.
Suzan Harb left Gaza with her five children on Tuesday, crossing through the Rafah border crossing into Egypt.
She and her family lived in Calgary and moved to Gaza more than a year ago to try to make a life there.
Speaking to CTV News Channel Wednesday from Cairo, Harb said she feels extremely lucky to have been among the first Canadians to leave.
But it came at the cost of having to abandon their life – and extended family – in Gaza.
"It was a great life. We had our first home, we just bought it six months ago … and all of a sudden it's upside down, everything flipped, and now we're fearing for our life," she said.
Moving from one place to another, Harb said they eventually moved from central Gaza to the south, staying with other families, sharing food, money and any other resource they had.
"It's a day-by-day situation," she said. "You wake up in the morning and whatever you have, you deal with it."
One of the most difficult decisions they had to make occurred when Harb's husband, Mansour Shouman, chose to stay behind so he could share stories of the struggle of the Palestinians. He has been sharing those experiences with other news outlets, as well as through social media.
Although she's concerned for his safety, Harb said she is also grateful and proud of her husband for the important work he is doing.
She plans to stay in Cairo for the 72 hours that the Egyptian government has given to those who cross into the country before visiting family in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
"When we left our hearts were broken, we don't know if we can come back, but definitely we were hoping things get better soon and we can reunite with the family," she said.
With files from the Canadian Press and Reuters
This story has been updated to reflect the correct date that Hany Elbatnigi left Gaza through the Rafah border crossing.
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