Mohammed Abu Dhaka’s bold escape story

It took more than a year, several thousand dollars, ingenuity, failures and jet ski: this is how Mohammed Abu Daha, 31 -year -old Palestinian, managed to escape Gaza to reach Europe.

Records his story through video, photo and audio files, which he shared Reuters. Reuters Also, the interview and the comrades of the trip on their arrival to Italy and his relatives in the Gaza Strip.

Leaving the catastrophe caused by the nearly two -year war waged by Israel, in which the Gaza Health Authorities say nearly 65,000 Palestinians were killed, Abu Dakha crossed Rafah’s current point in Egypt in April 2024, paying $ 5,000.

In China and back

He said he initially went to China, where he hoped to win asylum, but returned to Egypt, through Malaysia and Indonesia, after that failed. Showed Reuters Email correspondence with the representation of the UN Refugee Service (UNHCR) in China since August and September 2024.

Abu Dakha then went to Libya where, according to multiple reports from human rights groups and the UN, tens of thousands of immigrants are usually abused and exploited by traffickers and militias trying to secure a point in a boat in Europe.

According to data from the Italian Interior Ministry, more than 47,000 migrant vessels arrived in the country a year to date, mainly from Libya and Tunisia. But Abu Dakha did it in extremely unusual conditions.

After 10 unsuccessful attempts at smuggling, he said he bought a used Jet Yamaha ski for about $ 5,000 through an online Libyan market and invested another $ 1,500 in equipment, including a GPS, a satellite phone and the lifejackets.

Accompanied by two other Palestinians, 27 -year -old Diaa and 23 -year -old Bassem, he said he drove the jet ski for about 12 hours, watching a chasing Tunisian patrol boat, all while towing a boat with additional supplies.

The trio used the chatgpt to calculate how much fuel would need, but it was still running about 20 km (12 miles) Lampedusa’s shy. They managed to seek help, causing rescue and landing on the southern island of Italy on August 18th.

They were carried out by a Romanian patrol boat involved in a Frontex mission, a European Union’s border service spokesman said, describing the conditions as a “unusual phenomenon”.

“It was a very difficult journey, but we were fortunate, we had a strong hope that we would arrive, and God gave us strength,” said Bassem, who did not share his surname.

“The way they came was quite unique,” said Filippo Ungaro, a UNHCR spokesman in Italy, confirming that authorities recorded their arrival in Italy after a ski trip from the Libyan port of Al-Khoms and a rescue from Lampedusa.

In a straight line, Al-Khoms is about 350 km from Lampedusa.

Abu Dakha came in contact Reuters While staying at the Lampedusa immigrant center after telling him a member of the staff there that his arrival via jet ski had been reported by the local media.

From that point he shared material and documents, although Reuters could not confirm certain aspects of his account.

From Lampedusa to Germany

From Lampedusa, the Odyssey continued. The three men were pulled by the ship to mainland Sicily and then transported to Genoa to northwestern Italy, but escaped by the bus that transported them before reaching their destination.

A spokesman for the Italian Interior Ministry said he had no specific information on the moves of the third.

After hiding in bushes for a few hours, Abu Dakha took a plane from Genoa in Brussels. He shared with Reuters a boarding card in his name for low -cost flight from Genoa to Brussels Charleroi, dated August 23.

From Brussels, he said he traveled to Germany, first taking a train to Cologne, then to Osnabrueck in Lower Saxony, where a relative took him by car and took him to Bramsche, a nearby city.

He says he has applied for asylum and waits for a court to examine his application without a listening date. He has no job or income and stays in a local center for asylum seekers.

Germany’s federal office for immigration and refugees refused to comment on its case, referring to privacy reasons.

Abu Dakha’s family remains in a scene camp in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, their home was destroyed.

“He had a shop on the internet and his work, thank God. He was comfortable financially and everything, he had built things and everything collapsed,” said Abdrabuh’s father Souliman Abu Dakha, speaking from Gaza.

Abu Dakha hopes to win the right to stay in Germany and bring his wife and two children, four and six. He said one of them suffers from a neurological condition that requires medical care.

“That’s why I risk my life in a jet ski,” he said. “Without my family, life makes no sense.”