Millions of Palestinians Without an Exit... Mother of an American Sailor Leaves Gaza Under the Protection of Three Governments

Following SadaNews - American and Israeli media are occupied with a news story revealing an unprecedented secret operation in which a Palestinian woman was evacuated from the besieged Gaza Strip; she is the mother of an American sailor, through what has been described as "extraordinary" cooperation between the governments of the United States, Israel, and Jordan. The operation involved a preemptive ceasefire and included high-level American figures in planning and management, as specialized means were used to track the woman’s movements inside the strip before carrying out the rescue operation.

However, despite its complexity, this operation cannot be regarded as an American achievement to be celebrated, as promoted by American media, since it takes place in the context of a continuous war that kills lives daily, during which American weapons are used to support Israeli attacks on Gaza. While this woman received exceptional intervention, dozens of American Palestinians remain trapped in the strip without any support or actual movement from Washington, raising ethical and political questions about double standards in dealing with humanitarian issues.

According to a report by the "Washington Post" translated by "SadaNews", the woman who was evacuated is named Ahlam Farwana (59 years old), and she is the mother of Younes Farwana, a petty officer in the U.S. Navy. She was secretly evacuated from Gaza over the past weeks after direct intervention from the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump and the Israeli and Jordanian governments, according to informed sources and correspondences reviewed by the newspaper. The operation required a coordinated halt of Israeli airstrikes to ensure her safety, and it also needed a donation of $10,000 to cover transportation costs, employing advanced monitoring programs to track her location amid the ongoing military assault.

Younes Farwana, 32 years old, joined the U.S. military in 2023 with the aim of obtaining American citizenship. After the outbreak of the Gaza war in October of that year, his mother and his six siblings faced increasing danger and severe deprivation, especially after their seven-story family home was destroyed in 2024 due to shelling, with worsening shortages of food and medicine. Younes obtained American citizenship in February 2024, on the day of his graduation from Navy boot camp, but he was asked to stand under the Jordanian flag during the ceremony, as the United States does not recognize the Palestinian flag.

From his workplace in California as a medic in the U.S. Navy, Younes began, as translated by SadaNews, coordinating his mother’s departure via Jordan since early 2024. Although he received approval from U.S. immigration officials for her entry into the United States, he faced difficulties in finding someone to accompany her out of Gaza or help her renew her expired passport. He explained that American officials told him their hands were "tied", prompting him to seek alternative solutions.

In September, Younes joined the American Special Operations Association, a veterans' organization, where he met a seasoned soldier named Ben Clay, who led the evacuation operation using an app he developed to identify the safest transportation routes. When the original plan of an Israeli escort was canceled due to delays in procedures, the association, according to SadaNews translation, donated $10,000 to rent a ground transport vehicle to transfer Ahlam Farwana from her building in Gaza City to the Kerem Shalom border crossing in the southeastern corner of the strip. The journey took a full 19 hours, according to messages reviewed by the newspaper.

Currently, Ahlam Farwana remains in Jordan, awaiting approval for her American visa. Her son hopes to expedite the departure procedures for the rest of the family members, but he pointed out that requests have been denied in all cases except for his mother, and that the process is slow and non-transparent.

For his part, an American official speaking to the newspaper on condition of anonymity stated that the success of the evacuation operation was due to the efforts of American diplomats in Amman, adding: "The U.S. Embassy team in Jordan did their utmost to help the mother of a U.S. service member exit safely from Gaza. This is an example of the heroic work our Department of State employees perform daily around the world." He also noted that discussions with the Israelis partially focused on ensuring that the woman's location was not targeted, and they sought to establish a security zone around her to avoid unintended military strikes on the rescue team.

At the Jordanian embassy in Washington, officials expedited the approval for Ahlam Farwana’s entry into Jordan. Ambassador Dina Kawar stated that her government is "happy to assist in facilitating" Farwana's exit from Gaza, confirming that this initiative is part of "Jordan’s ongoing and extensive humanitarian efforts - not an exception."

Despite the success of the operation, it raised questions about U.S. policies toward Palestinians in Gaza. Many American Palestinians and their families have complained since the war began about the United States’ failure to secure the safe exit of its citizens from the strip, with some filing lawsuits against the Biden administration in December. Attorney Maria Kari, who represents some of these families, stated that the situation worsened under Trump, especially after the U.S. State Department announced in August a halt to visitor visas for those coming from Gaza, a decision that followed days after far-right activist Laura Loomer reacted to a video showing Palestinian children and their caretakers arriving at an airport in San Francisco, describing the program as a "threat to national security." Although she does not hold an official position, Loomer has considerable influence with the president.

According to lawyers and human rights groups, requests to evacuate children and spouses of American citizens have been denied on national security grounds. At the end of the "Washington Post" report, Younes Farwana, as translated by SadaNews, questioned why there was a need for this exceptional intervention to extract his mother, while the United States had previously established policies to support humanitarian resettlement from war zones like Ukraine and Afghanistan, adding: "The United States should do more than this."