Former Sealth High school exchange student from Palestine, Karam Saidam has made it safely to Egypt. But the effort was difficult, costly, and emotionally painful. 

He had been forced to leave his home with his entire family and flee to the southern city of Rafah near the Egyptian border. According to published reports 2 out of 3 homes in Gaza have been destroyed in the military action there. Thousands of children have died.

Now the government of Israel has said they still plan an offensive in Rafah where his family remains.

In an exclusive interview with WestsideSeattle Karam expressed his relief but concerns about his family.

Karam said that it had cost him $5000 to cross the border though the single travel agency allowed to handle the applications. But his family can't yet afford it, despite a GoFundMe campaign working toward that goal. They might have other options such as a mix of student visas and fees such as Karam paid, but it's unclear at this point if that will be possible.

In the meantime Karam, whose dream it is, to return to West Seattle waits. His sponsor family led by the family of Joslin Jane communicates with him and works toward that goal but Egyptian law states he has only a 45 day window to take action and getting a visa to travel can take 90 days or more in some cases. He is exploring every option.

In Rafah, conditions are not good, "Everyone is living in tents. It is very expensive costing $100 to feed my family every day." At this point he and his family are living off savings but they don't have unlimited funds.

"The hygienic situation is very bad There's basically no drainage system. There is no electricity, there is no drinking water, there is no water that they could use for washing. The food is very scarce. It's very unsafe because of the the air strikes that are 24/7."

"Even the most basic health issues can can't be addressed in Gaza. My mom, she's a diabetic and she has heart issues. Once she had a heart attack. And when we rushed her to the hospital, it was almost impossible to get her the proper care. Of course she made it out alive, and we were so happy that she was OK, but we almost lost her because there is no medical care. The medical system is so is so busy with everything else. They have injured people coming in by the hundreds and the capacity of these hospitals don't even have enough for 200 patients. And when you have thousands upon thousands of patients that come in,they're overwhelmed and they can't help everybody."

As the potential for an invasion looms Karam said it, "would be horrific for everybody because there they have nowhere else to go. Every place in Gaza either has ground troops or is a war zone. So there is nowhere else they could go. If an invasion goes forward, they will be forced to stay in Gaza. There would be no way out because after all, for an invasion, the Egyptian border would be closed indefinitely. And they will basically have to wait for their fate. They can't do anything at all about it. Even if they had all of this world's money, they can't do anything about it. "

Regarding Hamas, Karam explained, "Hamas is not like an army, they are basically a militia. So, they can't have militarized zones. So basically they are like everyday people. You could see them in the street and you wouldn't know they are Hamas fighters. They keep their identity and their activity secret from the people as well."

He explained that the vast majority of Palestinian people do not support or approve of Hamas. "I would say that we support fighting for our rights, we support fighting for for what is ours, but we are against terrorism. We're against fighting civilians. We're against like the killing of civilians. We would love a one state solution where Palestinians and Israelis could live in harmony together under the same rights, under the same flag. But of course we find that unrealistic."

As he waits he still has hope. His family understands that if he gets an opportunity he must take it.

"I've talked to them and they supported me with that and they wanted me to to go on and and thrive with my life and that they would be happy even if they were still stuck in Gaza and and at the end of the day, there is there is nothing I can do to help them. It's not like when I'm staying in Egypt that I will somehow help them by any means. So they think that if I'm presented the opportunity that I should take it."

Is there a solution? What does Karam see as the way forward for Gaza, Israel and the end of the war?

"I think that the only solution to all of this is that Israel should in the first stage would be to basically leave the Palestinians alone. We start by giving Palestinians rights in Gaza and the West Bank. And then at a later stage they could start providing some way of applying for Israeli citizenship. And maybe after many generations after everybody gets along there could be Palestinian politicians and the Israeli Government. And from that we we could build a a secular free democratic country where where all of us thrive and not have any conflicts."

Karam's dream is shared, he said by many other in Palestine who only seek peace and fairness. "We are not terrorists, we are just people who want to live in peace and harmony."