STORY: :: Muhammad Abu DakhaIt took more than a year, several thousand dollars and a jet ski for Palestinian Muhammad Abu Dakha to escape from Gaza and reach Europe.The daring journey, documented in videos and photos, saw the 31-year-old leave his family in April 2024,paying $5,000 to cross the Rafah border point into Egypt.Initially he said he traveled to China, but returned to Egypt after failing to win asylum, and made his way to Libya to try reach Europe via Italy.:: FileTens of thousands of migrants are routinely abused by traffickers in Libya while trying to secure a spot on a boat to Europe, according to human rights groups and the U.N.47,000 boat migrants have arrived in Italy in the year to date, mostly from Libya and Tunisia according to the country’s interior ministry.:: Muhammad Abu DakhaAfter 10 failed crossing attempts, Abu Dakha decided to make his own way to Italy where Reuters interviewed him.He purchased a jet ski for $5,000 and invested another $1,500 in a GPS, a satellite phone and life jackets.”That’s when I started thinking of a new idea, the jet ski idea. At the beginning, I tried the jet ski that one of my relatives had, and I liked the idea. So I started planning for it. Within two months we got a jet ski, checked the fuel, and calculated the distance and thought of how we will carry the fuel.Accompanied by two other Palestinians, 27-year-old Diaa and 23-year-old Bassem, he said he drove the jet ski for about 12 hours.But they ran out of fuel 12 miles from Lampedusa, Italy’s southernmost island.:: LampedusaindueminutiThey were rescued by a Romanian patrol boat and taken to Lampedusa’s migrant center, a spokesperson for the European Union’s border agency said.:: Muhammad Abu DakhaHowever, the trio’s odyssey didn’t end there. They then escaped a bus transfer from Sicily to Genoa,hiding in bushes for hours.Abu Dakha showed Reuters a plane ticket that took him from Genoa to Brussels,where he said he took a train to Germany and was collected by a relative.He says he has applied for asylum with no date set yet for a court hearing.He has no job or income and is staying in Bramsche, at a local center for asylum seekers.Germany’s Federal Office for Migration and Refugees declined to comment on his case, citing privacy reasons.Abu Dakha shared material and documents, although Reuters was unable to confirm certain aspects of his account.Back in Gaza, Abu Dakha’s family remains in a tent camp near Khan Younis.His father told Reuters his son was never one to sit still.After his business and home were destroyed by Israel, he said he couldn’t stay in Gaza.The family thanks God their son is alive and safe.Abu Dakha now hopes to win the right to stay in Germany and bring over his wife and two children. He said one of them suffers from a neurological condition requiring medical care:: Muhammad Abu Dakhaand his risky mission won’t be complete without them.Read More
From Gaza to Europe via jet ski: how this Palestinian escaped war
