Hawaii woman on humanitarian mission in Gaza among thousands ordered to evacuate

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – A Hawaii woman on a humanitarian mission in Gaza is among the more than 1 million people ordered to to flee ahead of an expected ground invasion.

Ramona Okumura, a retired Hawaii teacher and medical technician, has been communicating with her family frequently. Her brother, Glenn, has gotten texts messages periodically.

He said her sister was in a convoy moving south of Gaza.

Her escape happened as Israel warned 1.1 million civilians to flee south within 24 hours.

The military dropped flyers into Gaza that said “evacuate your homes immediately.”

Colleagues of Hawaii woman trapped in Gaza call for humanitarian corridor, ceasefire

“We were biting our nails and waiting for what’s going on,” said Glenn Okumura.

Ramona Okumura, a volunteer with the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund, recently sent a message to her family that said, “Where can we go in a place only 25 miles long and 5 miles wide?

“Imagine all of Oahu crammed along in a space from Hawaii Kai to downtown?”

U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, described the situation as very dangerous.

“The war needs to end and that is where a lot of the emphasis has to go,” she said.

“But at the same time, we very much know that Israel has a right to defend itself and American support will continue to that end.”

Ramona Okumura’s family said the organization she has been volunteering for has now arranged plans for her and other humanitarian aid workers to leave Gaza.

“It’s halfway happy, elated but still apprehensive because it ain’t over till it’s over,” said Glenn Okumura. “But like Ramona said, plans always change over there in the Middle East so just gonna wait until she’s there and then we can kind of give another sigh of relief.”

Ramona Okumura is a Washington resident so her family has been working with state leaders there. They said U.S. Rep Pramila Jayapal confirmed the State Department was working to update their team on the ground and said assistance in Gaza is still extremely limited.

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