GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) – Like millions of Syrians, Wareef Hamedo fled the civil war in his homeland in search of safety and security. But in a decision he now regrets, he chose to go to Gaza.
Hamedo’s family is among 12 Syrian households that found refuge in Gaza after the civil war erupted in 2011 and are now trapped in the war-battered territory, ineligible for most social services granted to Palestinians but also unable to travel abroad.
“We are trying to get out of Gaza to any European country or where a Syrian refugee can find care,” said Hamedo, a chef from Aleppo who is an unofficial spokesman for the Syrian families here. “Gaza was a phase for the Syrians. We came to it because of the conditions that forced us to.”
About 250 families from Palestinian refugee camps in Syria made their way to Gaza in the first two years of the Syrian civil war. As Palestinian refugees, they were eligible for services such as health care, education and food assistance from UNRWA, the U.N. agency that assists Palestinian refugees.
About two dozen Syrian families also chose to migrate to Gaza after initially fleeing to Egypt. As the situation in Egypt deteriorated, they entered neighboring Gaza through smuggling tunnels. Some managed to leave before the Egyptian army shut most of the tunnels in 2013. But half still remain.