Palestinian families in Paterson anxiously await word from loved ones in Gaza
PATERSON, N.J. (WABC) -- Many families in our area are frightened for their loved ones in harm's way in the Middle East.
A woman in Paterson, New Jersey says her father, who lives in Gaza, left her a voicemail message saying it might be the last time that she would hear from him.
Fares Abufares has been in Gaza for a month and finds himself facing the fear of death every moment.
He took video of a mosque and other buildings hit by a bomb just a few doors from his home. He is there with his large family and left a message that his daughter listened to this afternoon.
"They're targeting hospitals. They're targeting towers, targeting entire families," he said.
"It's sad," Duaa Abufares, his daughter, told Eyewitness News adding that it makes her angry. "I want him to be here."
Duaa is a college student studying psychology, but now all of her attention is focused on life in Gaza and the struggle to survive.
"Just hearing him talk like that gets me more worried than ever," she said.
Her father's phone call came in Monday, but she has not heard anything from him since then.
"My dad so far said everyone's safe but it's been a day and there's bombing every single day, continuously, and hundreds of people are dead, so I can't say everyone is safe so far," Abufares said.
Many Palestinians in Paterson say Gaza has long been ignored by the international community and these attacks are the result of a loss of hope and a feeling that fighting and death are their only option.
ALSO READ | NJ family trapped in Israel following Hamas attack
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