Palestinian-American brothers from Lombard taken in Israeli raid in Gaza, family says
Two Palestinian-American citizens with Lombard roots were taken by Israeli soldiers in an early morning raid in Gaza on Thursday, a family member said, months after U.S. officials approved them for evacuation but have since failed to secure their exit.
Their cousin in the suburbs had been pleading with U.S. officials to secure their evacuation. She and other Americans have even sued the State Department for alleged disparate treatment of Palestinian U.S. citizens trying to flee Israel’s bombardment of Gaza compared to Israeli Americans who were quickly helped after the Oct. 7 attacks by the militant group Hamas.
Borak and Hashem Alagha, 18 and 20, were born and raised in Lombard before their family moved to Canada and eventually Gaza. They’re dual American-Canadian citizens.
In the last four months, Israeli attacks have destroyed their home in Gaza, then a second home where they had taken shelter. Most recently, they were among 28 relatives sheltering in a two-bedroom, one-bath home in the Al-Mawasi neighborhood near Khan Younis, an area the Israeli military had directed Palestinians to flee to for safety.