Haunted and uncertain: the story of one Gaza family’s exile in Turkey

, the light from Ahmed Herzallah’s phone screen illuminates a picture of his destroyed home in Gaza City. The building, with its curved black-and-white striped exterior that wrapped around a street corner, used to be a place for celebration, where the family gathered together for birthday parties, graduation ceremonies or when his sisters visited home at the beginning of each summer.

Life in exile has also catapulted Ahmed, his wife, Diana, and their children into the unknown. The Turkish authorities, who evacuated a heavily pregnant Diana and their family so she could give birth in Istanbulgranted them two-year residency permits on humanitarian grounds and arranged a stay in a hotel, a saving grace that Ahmed describes as a streak of good luck.

“The grief killed him,” said Ahmed, pointing to the pain of exile. He was unable to attend his father’s funeral, learning of the death in Istanbul, where he had joined Diana in February, weeks after she gave birth to their youngest son, Rayyan. Reuniting with his family took Ahmed two months. He took pride in his work, and was shocked when the headteacher of his school posted to a WhatsApp group for teachers who work there that anyone fleeing Gaza would be put on leave without pay. “This is punishment for those who successfully escaped,” said Ahmed.

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