The last time Salim Elewa, an Ontario resident, heard from his cousin, a Gaza-based emergency doctor, was by phone on November 18, when the doctor said he was approaching a IDF checkpoint and which I will call back later.
Since then, Elewa has been trying to find her cousin, Dr. Saleh Eleiwa, by contacting the International Red Cross in Jerusalem and Canada, using lawyers in Israel and even appealing to her local parliamentarian.
“We haven't heard anything about him or where he is or anything like that,” Elewa said from his home in Burlington, Ontario. “We don’t even know if he’s still alive.”
Elewa described her cousin as “one of the brightest people I've ever met” and the valedictorian of her medical school program when he graduated in 2018.
Dr. Eleiwa was working in the emergency room at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza when, on November 18, the Israel Defense Forces ordered the evacuation of the hospital.
“On the news we saw that Al-Shifa Hospital was being evacuated, so we called him and asked what was happening,” Elewa said. “He told us they gave them half [an] It's time to evacuate the entire hospital.
Elewa explained that the doctor's plan was to go to southern Gaza to join his family, since his house in the north had been bombed. But, Elewa said, no one in the family heard from him after that final phone call as he approached an IDF checkpoint along the way.
Dr. Tarek Loubani, an emergency physician from London, Ontario who worked and trained doctors in Gaza, was one of Eleiwa's teachers and completed several internships with him.
Loubani said he spoke to other emergency doctors in Al-Shifa who saw what happened to Eleiwa, and told Loubani that Eleiwa was arrested by the Israeli army at the checkpoint with others health workers, some of whom were later released.
“Thanks to this kind of rumors, the rumor spread that he was under arrest and had been taken to Israel,” Loubani said. “This is the last time we hear from him.”
Elewa said she heard the same thing from her cousin's colleagues.
In a statement to CBC News, an IDF spokesperson said the force “recognizes the importance of the special protections afforded to medical teams under international humanitarian law and is taking steps to prevent them from harm.”
“The Israeli army is not at war against civilians in Gaza, it is at war against Hamas. “Hamas has integrated itself into the civilian infrastructure and operates throughout the Gaza Strip,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said they could answer CBC's questions about Eleiwa if they had her passport or identification number.
But when Elewa shared these figures with CBC News and forwarded them to the spokesperson, the spokesperson did not answer questions and instead referred them to the Israeli Prison Service.
The Israeli Prison Service did not respond in time for publication.
Dr. Marwan Abusada, a leading surgeon at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, describes a dire situation in which patients, including premature babies, face serious and increasing risks.
There is no response from the Red Cross
According to a mid-December report report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human RightsSeveral Palestinians from northern Gaza have been arrested by the IDF and “many of them have been subjected to serious mistreatment, which in some cases may amount to torture.”
“The families of those detained have not received any information on the fate or whereabouts of their loved ones or the reasons for their detention, exacerbating their feeling of anguish and fear,” reads the report. the UN.
About two weeks ago, Canadian citizen journalist Mansour Shouman disappeared in Gaza. In a story similar to Eleiwa's, his friends and family said they were told by humanitarian organizations on the ground that witnesses saw Shouman being taken away by the IDF.
In her search for answers about her cousin, Elewa contacted both the International Red Cross in Jerusalem and the Canadian Red Cross.
“The International Red Cross in Jerusalem tells me: 'We are not allowed to release any information because the occupation does not allow anything to be released,'” Elewa said. “They told me to contact the Canadian Red Cross branch.”
The Canadian branch asked Elewa to fill out a form with her cousin's information.
Mansour Shouman and his family are among 80 Canadians authorized by Global Affairs Canada to leave the Gaza Strip. He decided to stay and help other Palestinians in need, separating from his wife and five children who have since crossed the Egyptian border.
“Once the document is returned, we will process your request and forward it to the delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) – ILOT (Israel and occupied territories),” a Canadian Red Cross representative wrote to Elewa in a message. email on December 6.
But neither the Canadian Red Cross nor the Jerusalem chapter have been able to find answers.
In emails to CBC News, an ICRC spokesperson said the organization has not been able to visit any Palestinians detained in Israel or any Israelis held hostage in Gaza.
When asked how many Palestinians were detained in Israel, the ICRC spokesperson replied: “We do not have figures on this and even if we did, we would not share them publicly due to our confidential and bilateral dialogue with the parties to the conflict. “
It's also unclear how many people in Canada have filled out forms through the Canadian Red Cross' Restoring Family Links program, looking for loved ones missing in Gaza.
“I have reviewed your request and we will not provide you with the number you requested,” a Canadian Red Cross spokesperson said when asked how many Canadians were searching for people in Gaza.
They did not explain why this number is not available.
Elewa said he knows his cousin is not eligible to be evacuated to Canada, but he will continue to appeal to the Red Cross, Canadian parliamentarians and other international organizations for Eleiwa's whereabouts and what condition it is in. Even though she has not heard from her for two months, Elewa continues to consult the doctor on her phone.
“His cell phone keeps ringing and you can send him messages, which means his phone is active somewhere,” Elewa said.
Tomer Keshet, whose entire cousin's family was taken hostage by Hamas during the October 7 attacks in Israel, says he is very happy for the other families when he sees the hostages being freed, but calls the process a waiting game of the return of their loved ones. those who are “stressful”. .'
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