From Gaza to Europe via the Jet Ski: the daring exhaust of a war Palestinian

It took more than a year, several thousand dollars, ingenuity, reverse and a jet ski: this is how Muhammad Abu Dakha, a 31 -year -old Palestinian, managed to escape from Gaza to reach Europe.

He documented his story through videos, photographs and audio files, which he shared with Reuters. Reuters also interviewed him as well as his traveling companions when they arrived in Italy, as well as their loved ones in the Gaza Strip.

Fleeing the devastation caused by the War of Israel -Hamas, almost two years old – in which the health authorities of Gaza say that more than 57,000 Palestinians were killed – Abu Dakha crossed the border point of Rafah in Egypt in April 2024, paying $ 5,000 in the United States.

He said he had initially went to China, where he hoped to win asylum, but after that, he returned to Egypt, via Malaysia and Indonesia. He showed Reuters a correspondence by email with the representation of the United Nations Agency for Refugees (UNHCR) in China in August and September 2024.

Abu Dakha then went to Libya where, according to several reports of human rights and UN rights groups, tens of thousands of migrants are systematically mistreated and exploited by traffickers and militias while trying to obtain a place on a boat to Europe.

According to data from the Italian Interior Ministry, more than 47,000 boat migrants have arrived in the country during the year to date, mainly from Libya and Tunisia. But Abu Dakha crossed in very unusual circumstances.

10 Faced crossing attempts

After 10 attempts to cross cross -cutting with the smugglers, he said he bought a used Yamaha jet skiing for around $ 5,000 on an online Libyan market and invested an additional $ 1,500 in the equipment, including a GPS, a satellite phone and life jackets.

Accompanied by two other Palestinians – Diaa, 27 years old and Bassem, 23 years old – he said that he was driving the jet ski for about 12 hours, seeing a Tunisian patrol boat in pursuit, while towing a canoe with additional supplies.

The trio used Chatgpt to calculate the amount of fuel they would need, but still lacked about 20 kilometers from Lampedusa, Italy. They managed to call for help, causing rescue and landing on the southern island in Italy on August 18.

They were picked up by a Romanian patrol boat participating in a Frontex mission, said a spokesperson for the European Union border agency, describing circumstances as “an unusual event”.

“It was a very difficult journey, but we were adventurers. We had a strong hope that we arrived, and God gave us strength,” said Bassem, who did not share his last name.

“The way they came were quite unique,” said Filippo Ungaro, spokesperson for HCR Italy, confirming that the authorities recorded their arrival in Italy after a Ski jet trip to the Libyan Al-Khoms port and a Lampedusa rescue.

In a straight line, Al-Khoms is approximately 350 kilometers from Lampedusa.

Abu Dakha contacted Reuters by staying at the Migrants center in Lampedusa, after being informed by a staff member that his arrival via jet ski had been reported by local media.

From that moment, he shared equipment and documents, although Reuters was unable to confirm certain aspects of his account.

Wait in Germany

From Lampedusa, the odyssey continued. The three men were taken by Ferry to Continental Sicily, then transferred to Genoa in northwest Italy, but escaped from the bus that transported them before going to their destination.

A spokesperson for the Italian Ministry of the Interior said that he had no specific information on the movements of the trio.

After hiding in bushes for a few hours, Abu Dakha took a plane from Genoa in Brussels. He shared with Reuters a boarding school on his behalf for a low cost flight from Genoa at Brussels-Charleroi airport, dated August 23.

From Brussels, he said that he went to Germany, first taking a train for Cologne, then in Osnabrueck in Lower Saxony, where a parent picked him up by car and took him to Bramsche, a neighboring city.

He said he asked for asylum and waits for a court to examine his request, without a date fixed for a hearing. He has no jobs or income and remains in a local center for asylum seekers.

The Federal Office of Migration and Refugees in Germany refused to comment on its case, citing reasons of confidentiality.

Abu Dakha’s family remains in a tent camp in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, their house destroyed.

“He had an internet shop, and his work, thank God, was comfortable financially and everything. He had accumulated things, and everything collapsed,” said his father, intestar Khouder Abu Dakha, speaking of Gaza.

Abu Dakha hopes to win the right to stay in Germany and bring his wife and two children, aged four and six. He said that one of them suffered from a neurological condition requiring medical care.

“This is why I risked my life in jet ski,” he said. “Without my family, life does not make sense.”