TRANSCRIPT
Since October 7th, Zuhair's family have been stuck in a living nightmare.
Beside piles of rubble — the remains of their destroyed home in Gaza City — a large black sheet hangs, shielding a small clothesline and mattresses from the road beyond it.
This is where Zuhair's three nieces and a three-month-old baby sleep.
"Every morning they wake up looking at the spots of blood where their mother - Lubna my sister - got killed. So, when I speak to them, they feel traumatised as well."
The makeshift living quarters are a far cry from the idyllic Australian farm where Zuhair has lived for the last eight years.
After his family’s home was destroyed in November, Zuhair sent videos of his vast acreage to his family, who were sheltering in a cramped school in Gaza City at the time.
Lambs, alpacas and cherry trees pepper the grounds of the property, which is in Young, a regional town nestled in the south-western slopes of New South Wales.
This, he told his family, could be their new home.
"They wished to be here. They were hoping to be here and experience the countryside lifestyle; spend some time with my family and my kids, just getting out of that war zone."
Zuhair first came to Australia in 1995 to study.
The 48-year-old has more than a dozen university qualifications, as well as a pilot’s licence.
He works at the local hospital and on his farm, living a self-sufficient life with his wife and four children.
But he is haunted by news from Gaza.
In November, his sister Lubna, her husband, two sons, and son-in-law were killed in an Israeli airstrike on their home in Gaza City.
"The hardest part was the four days [it took] to get her body out [from under the rubble] because I felt like she needed some dignity to be buried. Fifteen days later, her grave got dug [up] by bulldozers and the Israeli army when they went into one of the graves. So, her body came out as well and they had to bury her again."
Three of Zuhair's nieces — aged 25, 21 and 18 — survived the strike.
One of them was pregnant at the time.
She has since given birth to Lubna, named after Zuhair's sister.
His nieces are among the more than 30 family members Zuhair has tried to secure Australian tourist visas for since they were displaced in November by the ongoing war.
Every application has been unsuccessful.
Since October 7th, Australia has granted visas to nearly 3,000 Palestinian citizens — most being subclass 600, or tourist visas.
More than twice as many applications (7,111) have been rejected.
Around 1,300 Palestinians with approved visas have arrived in Australia.
Over the same period, 8,746 visas have been granted to Israeli citizens fleeing the region, and 235 have been rejected.
Australia’s humanitarian response to the conflict has been the subject of political debate this week, following comments from Opposition Leader Peter Dutton that Palestinians fleeing Gaza should not be issued visas.
The remarks have raised questions about whether an outright ban constitutes discrimination and have been widely condemned by Labor, the Greens, some crossbenchers, and pro-Palestinian groups.
Among critics is Education Minister Jason Clare, whose Blaxland electorate in southwest Sydney has a large Arab and Muslim population.
He extended an invitation to the Opposition Leader to meet with Gazan refugees in his electorate.
"These are people who've had their home blown up, who've had their school blown up, who've had their hospital blown up, in some cases have had their kids blown up. Come and visit them, look them in the eyes and I think he'll learn a bit."
But visa approvals are not the only obstacle faced by people trying to flee Gaza.
For three months, almost nobody has been able to leave the besieged territory, even with an approved foreign visa.
That’s because, on May the 6th, Israel launched its ground offensive in the strip’s south, which closed the Rafah Crossing.
It has stayed that way since.
SBS News has been told there are a number of Australians still stuck there, despite seeking assistance from the government.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a statement:
“The Rafah border crossing is controlled by the Egyptian and Israeli authorities, not the Australian Government. DFAT continues to do all we can to support Australians and their immediate family members, including parents, still in Gaza who wish to depart but are unable to do so. Throughout the conflict, they have put tight restrictions on who can cross, and it is currently closed. While we are doing all we can, the Australian Government must work within this system, as do other countries with nationals in Gaza."
Four months after Zuhair lost his sister, his older brother Mahmoud was killed too.
He was shot in the chest and stomach while standing on the balcony of his home.
Mahmoud’s children heard the screams and dragged him to shelter.
He bled for 16 hours.
"He was my mentor, my love, he was everything to me. I couldn't comprehend that he's gone. He's a brother. We grew up together, had memories and he has done nothing wrong."
Despite his best efforts, Zuhair El Henday has been unable to secure Australian tourist visas for his remaining family in Gaza.
The proud Palestinian-Australian, who became an Australian citizen in 2003, says the government has failed him.
“I have proven that I have been a true citizen and I contribute to this country, contribute to the community. So, why don't I have the right to get my family here to make them safe?"
In a statement to SBS News, DFAT said the “government recognises that this is an incredibly distressing time for those with friends and family in Gaza”.
A spokesperson for the Department of Home Affairs said its visa responses are part of "a whole-of-government effort to manage and monitor the effects of the Hamas-Israel conflict”.
While some unsuccessful visa applications relate to security risks, experts say most are rejected because applicants aren’t found to be genuine tourists.
Humanitarian advocates are calling for the visa pathway to be changed.
Refugee Advice & Casework Service senior supervising solicitor Ahmad Sawan says the subclass 600 visa is not “built for purpose” for those fleeing a warzone.
"A tourist visa has a component attached to it where you need to meet the criteria to be a genuine temporary entrant, which for a lot of people who are fleeing a situation like they are these days aren't quite realistic. Members of the same family unit - half would be granted and would arrive in Australia and then, all of a sudden, the same family unit who applied under similar grounds were then refused for not satisfying that requirement."
Without a clear pathway to resettle his family, Zuhair remains on high alert.
He is both relieved and afraid to receive text messages and calls from his loved ones in Gaza: relieved that they’re alive, but afraid someone he loves has been killed.
"Then we just say goodbye. We don't know when we're going to talk again, so it's difficult."
