Ontario woman says brother died hungry in Gaza, waiting for word on Canadian visa

A 62-year-old Ontario woman says her brother has died in northern Gaza after weeks spent searching for food and refuge while he waited for word if he could come to Canada.

A 62-year-old Ontario woman says her brother has died in northern Gaza after weeks spent searching for food and refuge while he waited for word from the federal government about whether he could come to Canada.

Sawsan Karashuli found out through a Facebook post that her brother, Ismail Qarsholi, had died on March 4, about two months after she applied to a newly opened program to secure him and his 25-year-old daughter Canadian visas. His daughter, Lina Qarsholi, is now alone in northern Gaza, Karashuli said, trying to stay alive in the epicentre of what international officials have described as a humanitarian catastrophe.

Karashuli says her only wish is for Ottawa to help her niece escape to live with her in Canada, the country Karashuli has called home for more than two decades.

She was joined by her son Marcus in a recent interview. “Mom had started to tidy up the room and fix everything up,” 36-year-old Marcus Karashuli said, his voice breaking. “She had clothes because they’d be coming with nothing. We truly believe in Canadian values, but we’re shocked that they’re not able to do anything … it’s just a lot of time, lost effort, a lot of false hope.”

The Canadian government launched a program in January to offer temporary visas to as many as 1,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip who have extended family in Canada, on the condition that their families support them when they arrive.

Sawsan Karashuli applied for her relatives the day the program launched. She said the application was confusing and costly, and she ultimately heard nothing back from the federal government about whether her relatives had been accepted, or if they could safely get to Egypt for final processing.

As of March 11, 986 applications had been accepted into processing under the program, but only 14 people had managed to cross from Gaza into Egypt for the required final screenings and been cleared to come to Canada, the federal Immigration Department said in a statement.

By comparison, Australian authorities said they issued nearly 2,300 visas to Palestinians between the beginning of the war on Oct. 7, 2023, and Feb. 6. As of March 7, Ireland had issued 90 visas since Oct. 7, said an email from Irish immigration officials.