DETROIT (WXYZ) — A metro Detroit couple that had been stuck in Gaza since late September has left safely.
The Arab American Civil Rights League confirmed the information to 7 Action News Friday.
Zakaria and Laila Alarayshi became stuck when war conflict erupted between Hamas and Israel.
The Alarayshi family moved from their hometown of Gaza to metro Detroit about 23 years ago amid violence. They never imagined they’d be catapulted into a war zone more than two decades later.
The couple went to Gaza for a vacation to visit family and were there when the war began.
We spoke with the the ACRL and the Livonia couple's family several times as they pleaded for help from President Joe Biden and other government officials to get them home. The family's attorney and the ACRL filed a lawsuit demanding the U.S. State Department add the Alarayshis to a list of people allowed to cross the border.
“The bomb, the strikes of bombing (are) around them literally every single day for the last three-and-a-half weeks, and we want them home. We want them home as soon as possible," the couple's son Yahya Alarayshi told us on Thursday.
The family's attorney Nabih Ayad told us Thursday that the couple had been to the border six times and got turned away. The homes near where they were staying have been blown up.
The family was concerned because Zakaria Alarayshi is sick, has diabetes, high blood pressure, gastrointestinal issues and was out of medicine.
The ACRL said he was eventually added to the list and allowed to leave, but his wife was not. So, Zakaria Alarayshi chose to stay there by her side. They were then told that both of them would be on the list.
Friday morning, the ACRL told us the couple made it out safely. It's unclear at this time when they will arrive home.
In support of the Alarayshi family and all of the people trapped in Gaza, there is a rally planned this Saturday at Veterans Park in Hamtramck at 2 p.m. There’s also a March for Palestine planned in Washington D.C. with a group leaving from Michigan.
