LOS GATOS, Calif. (KRON) — In the Bay Area families and friends of loved ones in Gaza are worried sick for their safety — now that air raids have ramped up since the Hamas attack on Saturday in Israel.
The military response to that attack has killed thousands of civilians. Those that remain have been forced to evacuate with little idea as to where they can go.
KRON4 was in Los Gatos at a mosque where people are in fear for their families abroad.
The Bay Area is home to Palestinians both Christian and Muslim. However, here in this mosque, the Islamic community has gathered daily to discuss and console one another as they pray for an end to the violence abroad.
On Friday, more than two million Palestinians were ordered by Israeli forces to evacuate Gaza before another round of airstrikes.
Sharif Zakout says he last spoke with his family who is in Gaza on Thursday morning. He says they’ve lived for years, taking cover from bombs and struggling with few resources. This week took a turn for the worst in a way they hadn’t seen before.
Countless homes and businesses were obliterated in airstrikes as people hung on with little food, water, and access to electricity.
“Already people have been living in such a densely populated area with a lack of resources, with a lack of basic infrastructure this is desperate times and really the Israeli government is really issuing a death sentence more or less for people in Gaza at this point,” Gaza said.
The California Department of Emergency Services shared concern over any potential violence spilling over into the Golden State.
Now some synagogues, churches, and mosques are considering heightened security.
In the South Bay, members of a mosque in Los Gatos have gathered daily in prayer for their families in Gaza and to console one another.
“It’s scary we are worried we are traumatized we are constantly in shock how much worse it’s getting in Gaza we’re just sitting and praying, messaging has been difficult obviously because electricity has been cut off and communication is sparse,” said Naiema Din who is worried for family in Gaza. “We’re checking on them and texting and we know they’re trying to evacuate but there’s really nowhere to go.”
When asked about safety concerns here at home, she went on to say she is more concerned with the lives in harm’s way in Gaza.
And Zakout raised another point. He wants to see that the extra patrols around Islamic centers will truly be for the safety of the people inside and not surveillance of their community as he witnessed after 9/11.
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