A London, Ont. man's trip to the Gaza Strip to visit his ailing father has turned into an extended nightmare.
Nehad Al-Hajsalem has been trapped in Gaza since early November, and his family is growing increasingly desperate to bring him home safely.
An Israeli aerial bombing campaign on Gaza is now in its fifth day, with close to 400 people killed in the attacks.
Al-Hajsalem's wife, Dalia Salim, told CTV's Canada AM she worries for her husband's safety, saying just getting through by phone is a challenge.
"It's quite hard," Salim said. "You have to call at least 10 times for the phone to pick up. But I do talk to him and it's pretty scary. I can hear all the bombs, I can hear emergency sirens going by, I can hear helicopters, the loud zooming sound of them. It's all so frightening."
Al-Hajsalem, a permanent resident of Canada, travelled to Gaza when he learned the border with Egypt would be opened for several days in early November.
He had planned to visit his father who was dying from liver cancer, then return to Canada.
Al-Hajsalem's father died on Nov. 23, but the Gaza border has once again been closed and Al-Hajsalem hasn't been allowed to leave the territory.
Salim said her husband's status as a permanent resident means Foreign Affairs can do little to help him.
Her final hope -- of securing passage for Al-Hajsalem aboard an aid ship making trips from Cyprus to Gaza -- fell apart yesterday.
The ship, which had made several recent trips to Gaza, had agreed to take Al-Hajsalem as a passenger back to Cyprus.
However, the ship wasn't allowed to land in Gaza.
"That was basically our last hope, but that boat never made it to Gaza. Israeli navy ships hit it from the side and made it go back to Lebanon, so basically my only hope is gone," Salim said.
According to a report from The Associated Press, the SS Dignity, a ship carrying international peace activists and medical supplies, was damaged by the Israeli navy Tuesday, and forced to head to Lebanon.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said the ship ignored an Israeli radio order to turn back as it approached Gaza early Tuesday.
According to Palmor, the vessel tried to outmaneuver the Israeli navy ship and crashed into it, lightly damaging both vessels, before the Dignity was turned back.
Crew and passengers aboard the ship dispute the account, however, claiming it was rammed by the navy ship.
The ship was carrying close to four tons of medical supplies organized by Free Gaza, a group that has made five aid trips to Gaza, despite a blockade imposed by Israel on Gaza.
