Manchester mum 'waking up in a nightmare every morning' while daughter stuck in Gaza

  • Granada Reports Journalist Jennifer Buck spoke to Lalah Ali Faten about her daughter.

A mum whose daughter is stuck in Gaza is urging the UK Government to step in and get British Nationals home.

Lalah Ali Faten's daughter Zaynab Wandawi is in Rafah in the south of the strip with her husband and 10 other family members.

Zaynab Wandawi, 29, from Salford, was turned away again at the Rafah border crossing. Credit: family photo

Zaynab travelled to the region from Eccles, Greater Manchester, with her in-laws for a wedding, arriving two days before the conflict started.

The 29-year-old says she was instructed by the Foreign Office to move closer to the border, and is now waiting there for the Rafah border to open so they can get home.

Lalah is urging the authorites to urgently open the border to save lives.

"I'm imploring them and my daughter is imploring them to open the Rafa border, there is nothing else stopping them from getting out," she said.

Her mum Lalah Ali Faten lost communication with her for several days, but managed to speak to her after internet was restored.

She now constantly keeps her phone by her side waiting for any message or call.

"I know she is OK now, but her situation is getting progressively worse, they have run out of water, the food supply is extremely limited," she said.

"She is getting very anxious and is feeling quite despondent really and upset because she feels like not enough is being done to get British nationals out."

She added: "It's been the most harrowing period that I've really experienced.

"It's like waking up in a nightmare every morning and not knowing if my daughter made it through the night."

Zaynab told her mum the Government "shouldn't wait for a lull in the fighting because that might never come".

It comes after Israel said its military operations have 'expanded' in Gaza.

Israel's military said it had struck 600 targets in recent days, including weapons depots and anti-tank missile launching sites.

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