Palestinian family reunited in Canada after father pleads with federal government

Arrivingwith his family Thursday morning at Toronto's Pearson Airport,Abdallah Alhamadni smiled, looked at his wife and three sons and let out a deep sigh of relief.

His loved ones were finally safe from the violent conflict between Israel and Hamasthat erupted most recently this past spring.

"I used to wake up scared for my family," he explainedfrom his home in Brampton, Ont.."l feel God rewarded me for my patience."

Alhamadni fledGaza in 2019. His refugee claim was approved last year.After that, heaskedthe federal government to grant an emergency permit to bring his wife and three children to Canada.

Then, fighting between Israel and Hamasbroke out again this pastMay. And one night in mid-June,explosionslitup the night sky above Gazaas Israeli forces shelledthe Palestinian enclave.

Some of those explosionserupted justa kilometre from the family's home, and Alhamadnidesperately pleaded with Ottawato grant temporary residency permits to his family andother refugees whoseapplicationswere slowed by COVID-19 delays.

While he waited, he worked, spending much of the pandemic transportingCOVID-19 patients between their homes, hospitals and long-term care facilities.

"I am a health worker. They call me a hero. But I want to be a hero in the eyes of my children," Alhamadni told CBCNews in June.

"I am transferring COVID cases all the time, trying to help the community, trying to help people, trying to help Canada Now, I am asking Canada to save my life and my family's life."

Hispleas for help were answered soon after he spoke to CBC News.

In early August, his wife,Hala Alhamadni, and their children Mustafa,15, Zain,14 and Quais ,11 left Gaza, and met himin Cairo before travelling together to Toronto.

"I feel the freedom, I feel the safety," Adlhamadni explained.

Canada has issued temporary residency permits in emergency situations before, including after the deadly fuel tank explosion in Beirut last August, the downing of a Ukrainian jetliner by Iranian missiles last year and the Ethiopian Airlines crash in 2019, said Matthew Behrens, co-ordinator of the Rural Refugee Rights Network.

In June, Canada granted a temporary residency permit to the family of Ottawa's Jihan Qunoo, who fled Gaza in 2019 and came forward to the media amid the fighting abroad, desperate to be reunited with her children and husband.

The move came after a petition signed by some 25,000 people and several days of lobbying, said Behrens, who was involved in Qunoo's case.

Now, theAlhamadni family isquarantiningtogether in their Brampton home,looking to the future with hopefor the first time in a long time.

"It's like a dream," Abdallah Alhamadniexplained.

"I'm grateful to God ... to Canada."