After days of negotiations between Canada and the Israeli government, 48 Canadians were allowed to leave the Gaza Strip Thursday to begin their journey home.
CTV's Middle East Bureau Chief Janis Mackey Frayer, reporting from the Israeli side of the Erez border crossing, said Canadians have begun to emerge from the terminal.
"The Canadians are loading their luggage onto buses, looking relieved, leaving behind a very beleaguered Gaza Strip and in many cases leaving behind members of their family," Mackey Frayer told CTV's Canada AM on Thursday.
She said it has been a lengthy process for the Canadians to get out of Gaza, via the Red Cross, and to then clear the Israeli security checks.
Once in Israel, the Canadians will travel by bus to Amman, Jordan and then fly home to Canada.
Meanwhile, Canadian officials were unable to reach eight other Canadians trapped inside Gaza last night.
Another three Canadians who want to leave are stuck in southern Gaza.
"The main north-south corridor of the Gaza Strip has been effectively cut in half as part of the (Israeli) military strategy," Mackey Frayer said.
"It's simply impossible for these Canadians in the south to be able to get to Gaza City, to the Red Cross, which was the mustering point for embassy officials."
Amani Abu Ramadan, a Canadian who remains in Gaza, told CTV's Canada AM that her brother managed to get out on Thursday.
"We managed to call him once when he was going through the Israeli tunnels," Ramadan said.
"He walked for almost half a kilometre and then he was pulling his luggage for another half a kilometre through all the tunnels and the security checks at Erez point."
Ramadan, who was married in August 2007, stayed behind to be with her husband. Since their marriage, Ramadan hasn't been able to return to Canada to process her husband's immigration papers.
"There would have been nothing that would have made me happier than to go back to my family and to be with my mother and brother and sisters in Canada," Ramadan said.
She said her husband wanted her to leave so that she'd be safe.
"I couldn't leave my husband I couldn't do that to my family," she said.
Nizar Kaddah, a Palestinian-Canadian who moved with his family to Gaza for a job, also stayed behind.
Kaddah said the Canadian Embassy called him two days ago and said that if he wanted to leave Gaza he'd have to return to Canada.
Because of his demanding job, Kaddah asked if his family could be evacuated to the West Bank, where he has another house and an office. His request was denied.
"I told them I can wait for another few days before I make my own co-ordination and go to West Bank," he said.
"I have to be next to my work," Kaddah said. "Otherwise, if I leave and go to Canada, I'll probably lose my job. I really can't afford just to leave everything."
Mackey-Frayer said Canadian embassy officials also helped co-ordinate the evacuation of foreign nationals from 20 countries on Thursday.
