'We're all safe': Family with suburban ties allowed to leave Gaza
Emilee Abuhamad Rauschenberger and her family crossed safely into Egypt on Thursday, after spending weeks trapped in southern Gaza following Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
Her father, John Rauschenberger, believes her husband's persuasiveness probably had a lot to do with their safe passage. U.K. citizens like himself were not expected to be allowed to leave on the same day as American citizens, like his wife and children, but border guards let the entire family through.
Emilee, the niece of Elgin council member Carol Rauschenberger, was visiting her husband's relatives on an olive tree farm in Gaza when the start of hostilities led Egypt to close the Rafah border. Egypt reopened the border Wednesday to allow some foreign nationals out of Gaza.
Emilee, her husband Mohammed Abu Hamad, and their five children, ages 4 to 13, primarily live in Manchester, England, but recently have been living in Jordan, where she's under contract for a job reliant on her qualifications in international education.
John Rauschenberger, an Elgin native now living in Florida, said that while Emilee and her children were assigned numbers possibly allowing them to cross into Egypt as early as Wednesday, no British citizens were expected to be able to go until a later date.
But his son-in-law accompanied his family all the way to the queue at the border on the off chance there could be a change of heart, John said.
"He's a pretty persuasive guy and I'm sure my wife can turn the tears on," he added.
Confronted with a man trying to stay with his wife and children, the guards on both sides of the border most likely just told him to go, John said.
Emilee called her father after the family boarded a bus bound for a Marriott hotel in Cairo.
"She said, 'We're all safe,'" he said.
The connection dropped before he could learn further details. He knows that despite their hopes, his daughter and her husband were prepared to be separated.
The prospect of spending the night in a hotel is a stark contrast to the family's experience of the past few weeks, packed into a house sheltering 35 people without water or electricity. Though not in a targeted area, the family could hear missiles flying overhead and feel the house shake with explosions.
John Rauschenberger said he's relieved his days of living on two hours of sleep a night, as he tried to stay in contact with Emilee and sources of information, has finally ended.
U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, who last week urged the U.S. State Department to do more to get Rauschenberger and her family out of Gaza, said Thursday he was "hugely relieved" to learn of their passage to Egypt.
"Just as my team and I have worked with Emilee's family on a daily basis, we will continue to work with the dozens of other families we are still assisting as they also seek safety," the Schaumburg Democrat added in a written statement.