A “heartbroken” Inverness hospital consultant is pleading for help to rescue his family who are trapped in a Gaza refugee camp with no food, water or electricity.
Salim Ghayyda, 51, fears for his family stuck in war-torn Palestine and says he feels like “no one can help” get them to safety.
Dr Ghayyda moved from Palestine to the UK with his wife Hala 21 years ago and the couple have three children; Nabil Dalal – known as Dolly- and Jumanan.
He has worked as a paediatric consultant at Raigmore Hospital for 11 years, and his wife Hala works in the city’s Citizen Advice Bureau.
His elderly parents and siblings are currently living in makeshift tents with no food, water or electricity as a result of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Mr Ghayyda has decided to go public with his family’s plight “out of desperation”.
He told The Press and Journal: “My family are living in tents they have made themselves and some in a flat at Rafah in the most inhumane conditions.
“We have found ourselves in a state of despair with no other option but to need to pay money to get them out.
“In the flat, let me explain, there are maybe 50 people living in there – waiting for something to happen.
“There are mattresses all over the floors to allow people to sleep.”
“My father, who is elderly, has all the normal ailments with ageing, and he has diabetes.
“Because there are no hospitals – they have been decimated or closed – he could not get the right medication.
“My sister phoned me to say ‘your dad, he is dying’ and my brother – who is a nurse – managed to work out that he had been given the wrong blood sugar medication, and finally sorted it out.
“Then a miracle happened and an ambulance arrived to help my dad.
“People are living in inhumane conditions and they are not able to get the help they need. Normal medical conditions are becoming real problems.
“I have worked in these hospitals in Gaza, I have colleagues who have been killed.
“I am heartbroken.”
Dr Ghayyda says Gaza never been “home’ to his family, who have only visited Gaza a handful of times since leaving over two decades ago.
On one family holiday, they were caught up in the conflict, and Salim waited for 10 weeks to leave again.
He said: “I did not vote as a Palestinian until I was in my 40s as a British citizen and living in Inverness.”
He continued: “It is out of desperation that I have decided to go public, I want my family story to be heard.
“I am not used to the level of destruction on my family for the last three months – it is unjustified.
“There is always good and bad on every side. I am not going to stay quiet when my people are being treated in such a way’.
“Unless it stops it is killing and will kill innocent civilians and children. Starving civilians is not acceptable.
“When people say to me ‘it is complicated’, I think ‘no it is not’.
‘I need to find a way to get them out of the country and to safety’
“It is very clear – genocide has to stop, people need water, they need food, they need electricity – without it, they will die.
“They can not freely leave Gaza – there are checkpoints.
“There is no alternative, I need to find a way to get them out of the country and to safety.”
Dr Ghayyda is being supported by local MP Drew Hendry, as he tries to raise funds to move his family to safety in Egypt.
Mr Hendry, who represents Inverness, said: “The situation Salim and his family find themselves in is utterly heartbreaking and I am certain they will be taking some comfort from the kindness and outpouring of support they have from our community.
“Upon learning of the family’s situation last year, I wrote to the Foreign Office, highlighting the family’s precarious situation and urging help.
“The response I received from the minister was wholly unhelpful, offering no solutions.
“The UK Government could choose to do the right thing to help the people of Gaza and families like Salim’s – instead, they refuse to help.”
He added: “I will continue to do what I can to give voice to Salim and his family and the other families facing this impossible and heartbreaking dilemma and help in any way I can.”
The Foreign Office has been contacted for comment.
