'Bureaucratic genocide': Palestinian Canadians urge Ottawa to evacuate their families from Gaza

Omar has paid a whopping $120,000 out of his pocket to facilitate the evacuation of some of his family members from Gaza into Egypt.

He described much of the payment as a "bribe" to an Egyptian travel company - a scandal that Middle East Eye investigated last year.

Such a story is not at all unique for Palestinians in the diaspora desperately waiting to be reunited with their loved ones, or at the very least see them to safety in a third country. 

Omar, the founder of the online community Gazan Canadians, who asked that his last name be withheld, has so far managed to bring one of his seven sisters to Canada, along with her husband and children. But another, who is undergoing chemotherapy for cancer, remains in Egypt along with his mother.

His father and brother are still in the enclave, surviving in a tent. 

Read more: Palestinian Canadians urge Ottawa to evacuate their families from Gaza