Lebanese people in Albert are desperately trying to get their loved ones to safety as Israel launches airstrikes and attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Noor Kanafani’s parents and siblings live in an area of Beirut that has been bombed by Israeli forces this week.
“Now they’ve been driven out, they’re hiding in the mountains, and it’s just like you’d expect every day there are strikes and no one knows what the next step is,” he said from his home in Calgary.
“They only live for a moment.”
Kanafani was trying to take them to Canada, but he said it was a challenge to book a flight and collect the necessary documents in the war zone.
“We hope that the Canadian government can help, please stop the fire, do something, innocent people are being killed every day,” he said.
Calgary Skyview MP George Chahal said his constituency office has received many calls from Albertans concerned about their family members in Lebanon.
Get the latest country news
For news that affects Canada and the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you as they happen.
He said he is urging everyone to try to leave while the airport is still open.
“The key is to get any documents ready, so we can help Canadians get out as quickly as possible,” said the Liberal MP.
“We have already, while the airport is open, helped so many Canadians, we hope to reach so many to safety and hopefully we can get a ceasefire and end the war,” said Chahal.
He would not say whether there are any plans for the federal government to send chartered planes to help with the evacuation.
Calgary’s Jewish community is also feeling anxious and trying to stay connected to loved ones, following Tuesday’s massive Iranian missile attack.
Israel said it seized a large number of weapons.
“I’m on the internet with my dad, my cousins, my friends, I’m making sure everyone’s okay everyone’s there in the shelters my husband’s parents don’t have a bomb shelter so they’re hiding under their stairs,” said Ortal Luzon, an Israeli Calgarian.
“It doesn’t leave you. It happens and even though we are here and they are there, it is a big part of our life,” he said.
This week communities around the world mark Rosh Hashanah – the Jewish New Year. But Luzon said they were told to be careful.
“We don’t do little but we do it very carefully, with great fear — we don’t see that we can do it freely, but it will still be achieved and that is the strength of who we are as human beings. ,” he said.
Luzon said his biggest hope is peace. It is something that many of the victims of this conflict agree on, but no one knows when or how that will happen.
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
