Two weeks ago, Croatia became a new home for the eight-member Palestinian family Elaydy, whose members also have Croatian citizenship. After they were evacuated from war-torn Gaza to Egypt, the Croatian embassy organized a transfer for them to Zagreb and then to Vukovar, where they are currently located.
Esame Elaydy has already given interviews before, while in Egypt he was waiting for Croatia to help him rescue his wife and six children – five daughters and a son. WATCH VIDEO NEWS: He is a Croatian veteran, he lived in Croatia until 2000, after which he returned sick mother in Gaza and then started a family there.
They are now warm and safe, and we visited them in their new home in Vukovar. A small and dilapidated Slavonian house is an oasis of peace for them at this moment. – The house was given to us for use by a resident of Vukovar who owns a construction company. Before us, his workers lived in it, who temporarily moved out so that we could stay in it.
The Red Cross also helped us. They brought food, clothes, and this house is the biggest help to us, a really big thank you to the gentleman who gave it to us. I was also contacted by the Ministry of Veterans Affairs to send them the documentation and they will pay us a one-time aid. But we want to solve all the documentation as soon as possible in order to find a job – Esame told us. He says he will do whatever it takes.
In Gaza, he worked in construction and agriculture, and his wife is a nurse. The youngest son and daughter are elementary school students, two daughters are high school students, and two studied in Gaza and hope to be able to continue their education in Croatia.
The rest of his family is still in shock, they can’t get out of their heads the difficult images of the war they lived in. – Especially since the war is still going on. Here, through the family in Jordan, we found out that my wife’s brother has now passed away. He had cancer and, since the war, he could not receive chemotherapy. We lost all contact with the family in Gaza because all the lines were cut.