'Do not forget us': Moroccans still stranded in Gaza beg for evacuation

For nearly two years, a small community of Moroccans has been trapped inside the Gaza Strip, enduring bombardment, hunger, and displacement alongside Palestinians. As limited evacuations proceed through the Kerem Shalom crossing, they are asking their government: when will it be our turn?

When Dounya Ait Zakour travelled to Gaza from Morocco in July 2023, it was to start a new life. At 23, she was preparing for her wedding and imagining a bright future.

"Life was good then," she recalled in her interview with The New Arab. "Everything was available and affordable. Whether you were poor or better off, you could live."

That 'life' ended three months later. On 7 October 2023, Israel's war on Gaza began, and Dounya's neighbourhood in Nuseirat was bombed.

She fled south to Rafah along with thousands of others, then back again when the fighting shifted. Her home was destroyed. Soon after, she went into labour.

"I gave birth under heavy bombing at Al-Awda hospital," she said. "It was terrifying. Afterward, we faced hunger. Food was scarce, everything was hard."

Her son is now 10 months old, and survival has become an exhausting routine. Every morning, she scavenges for fuel to light a fire, boil water, or warm milk if she can find it.

When there is no wood, she burns scraps of plastic or fabric, filling the house with smoke. Clean water from the municipality arrives perhaps once a week.

"My baby needs nappies, milk, and food. Every day is a struggle," she said.

Dounya is one of dozens of Moroccans still stuck in Gaza, many of them women, children, and elderly people.

Since 2023, they have endured bombardment, displacement, hunger, and disease—the same conditions as the rest of Gaza's population, but with the added anguish of being unable to return to their homeland.

This week, the Moroccan Coalition of Human Rights Organisations—a group of 20 national associations—sent an open letter to the foreign minister, urging "intervention to save Moroccan citizens stranded in Gaza."

The coalition cited an emergency appeal from the Association of Moroccans in Gaza, warning that families face "inhumane conditions, constant threats of killing, displacement, starvation, thirst, disease and death."

"The Moroccan state must assume its responsibility to protect its citizens from the dangers threatening them," the letter said, calling for immediate evacuation.

The appeals echo the voices of several Moroccan families trapped in the enclave. "We lost our home and four relatives," said Wissam al-Maghribi, whose extended family of 12 is sheltering in makeshift conditions.

"We are in constant contact with the Moroccan embassy in Ramallah, but the situation has become unbearable. We beg His Majesty King Mohammed VI to rescue us."

Others have managed to escape, but left loved ones behind. "Half my family is still trapped in Gaza," Musab Al-Barnia, who crossed into Egypt before Rafah was closed.

Al-Barnia said he has been in contact with Moroccan embassies in Ramallah and Cairo, as well as the foreign ministry in Rabat, but without success. "We try everything," he said. "But the answer is always the same: nothing is possible now."

Morocco has acknowledged the difficulties.

In April, Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita told parliament that intensified Israeli military operations had forced the suspension of evacuations. "Because of the closure of crossings and the security situation, our country, like others, has had to suspend the evacuation of Moroccan citizens from Gaza."

Israel keeps Gaza's border crossings closed, making it impossible for civilians to leave the territory without its permission. Anyone wishing to exit Gaza must first be approved by Israeli authorities.

There is no official data on the number of Moroccans killed or still stranded. The foreign ministry's figures, however, indicate that five groups of Moroccan citizens and their families—a total of 369 people—have so far been evacuated.

For families still inside, those words bring little comfort. According to the Moroccan League for Citizenship and Human Rights, between 400 and 2,000 Moroccans are still in the enclave. 

Many point out that evacuations continue through the Kerem Shalom crossing, supervised by the International Committee of the Red Cross and coordinated with Israel. 

Several Moroccans in the enclave say they have repeatedly asked to be included on the lists but remain stranded.

The crossing is mainly used to evacuate severely ill or injured patients needing life-saving care unavailable in Gaza, in a process supported by the World Health Organisation (WHO). 

Through the same crossing, several countries—including Germany—have managed to assist their nationals and family members to leave Gaza and return home after negotiating with Israel.

In recent months, conditions have deteriorated in the strip. Food and clean water are scarce, malnutrition is spreading among children, and medicines are running out. 

WHO said disease and hunger will only increase, unless all Israeli impediments to aid delivery at scale are removed and access is allowed across the besieged coastal enclave.

While waiting for aid, evacuation or and end of the war, everyone in the strip tries to find hope somehow. Dounya says her modest charity work has become a way of pushing back against despair.

"The idea came from followers who encouraged me to do something and to use funds to help people in Gaza. I liked the idea and turned it into a small project: a fund for good deeds. We have received help mostly from Moroccans abroad," said the 26-year-old who uses her Instagram page to document the daily life in Gaza. 

"Sometimes when you give someone a piece of bread, you see their joy, and you feel a little happiness," she said, explaining how she shares the little funds she receives online to help her community. 

"When you return home, nothing has changed. The house is the same, the problems are the same — but you feel some lightness."

Dounya knows the war has taken too long, become too ugly, too exhausting. But she hopes Moroccans back home will not look away. "Do not forget us in Gaza. Remember, there are Moroccans here. We call on the king and officials to help us."