Evacuated from war-ravaged Gaza, Kashmir woman looks homeward

Jerusalem/Cairo, November 16

After being evacuated from war-torn Hamas-ruled Gaza with the help of Indian missions in the region, Lubna Nazir Shaboo is now looking forward to her homeward journey from Cairo to Kashmir.

Lubna, an Indian from Jammu and Kashmir living in Gaza, and her daughter Karima had crossed the Rafah border on Monday evening and reached the Egyptian capital the next day.

“I safely crossed over from Gaza at the Rafah border and am now awaiting my return to Kashmir,” Shaboo said.

She said the return journey plan was in the works. She profusely thanked the Indian diplomatic missions in the region — in Ramallah, Tel Aviv, and Cairo — for making the evacuation possible from the war-torn area.

Lubna’s son and daughter have been studying in Cairo.

Soon after she reached Egypt, the Indian Embassy in Cairo posted a photo of Indian Ambassador to Egypt Ajit Gupte with Lubna and her daughter on X.

“The situation was too bad in Gaza. We did not have water, electricity or Internet and the telecommunication was too bad. We went through a very bad phase,” she said.