I see STUFF the NZ news site is saying Gazans are having their Visa's cancelled mid flight - Good if true - hard to believe Albo Gov waking up to threats from Hamas/Iran ‘It’s crazy’: Desperate Gazans left in despair after Australian visas cancelled mid-air 14mar24 https://www.stuff.co.nz/world-news/350211693/its-crazy-desperate-gazans-left-despair-after-australian-visas-cancelled-mid quote - Palestinians fleeing the war in Gaza have been left in despair and financial distress after being granted Australian visas only to be told they were cancelled while en route to Australia.This masthead spoke to two Gazan women in Cairo who said they were shocked to learn they could not board a connecting flight to Australia with their children after their visas were seemingly cancelled while they were mid-air this week.“I was devastated. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do,” said one of the women, who asked to be known by the pseudonym Cassandra. The second woman did not want to go on the record.“I was very happy thinking that we can get help, we will finally be in a period of safety,” Cassandra said. “We had great hope that our lives will be much better, that the children could go to school. We had hope we would be able to survive.”
Cassandra, who lived with her family in the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis, said she was granted an Australia visitor visa in November and managed to escape Gaza through the Rafah crossing with Egypt in January. Regarded as a haven at the beginning of the war, Khan Younis has since been bombarded by Israeli airstrikes. Visiting Western journalists described the scenes of devastation there as beyond imagination.More than 31,000 Palestinians have died in Gaza since the start of the war, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health.Cassandra said she and her children were allowed to board a flight from Cairo, with a stopover at another Middle Eastern airport, after being assured they were able to travel onwards to Australia.“In the airport I was told, ‘Everything’s fine, your passport is fine, your visas are fine’,” said Cassandra, who has relatives in Australia.
