Dr. Mahmoud Sobha was among the American doctors evacuated after they were trapped in Gaza this week after an Israeli military offensive in Rafah shut down a vital border crossing where they were planning to exit.
Subha, 39, a Dallas-based doctor who specializes in wound care, was on his second humanitarian trip to Gaza, which was supposed to end last Monday.
His wife, Dr. Somaya Mushtaq, learned that his plans to leave were on hold last Friday afternoon via voicemail.
“He said we weren’t leaving on Monday and I remember listening to him and just saying, ‘No, no, no, no,'” she told CNN in a phone interview.
She described an extremely emotional week amid the uncertainty: “I didn’t think this would be morally or legally permissible.”
Three American doctors remained on Friday while 17 of them were able to evacuate.
Early Friday morning, her husband called her to tell her there was a possibility of eviction. He called again when he reached the border and was in Jerusalem on Friday evening Eastern time.
“It was emotionally complicated because there was a lot of guilt,” she said of her husband’s decision to leave.
“The survivor’s guilt is more apparent because there is no upcoming mission to go after him,” she said.
However, she said, “I believe he will come back. I think the call to help this incredibly vulnerable population is a humanitarian call. He will come back if there is an opportunity to rebuild hospital systems.”
