Israel-Gaza war: Manchester takeaway owner pleads for Government to bring baby and wife home for Christmas

A Manchester man is pleading with the government to help him get his six-month-old baby and wife home from Gaza in time for Christmas. Dalloul al-Neder, 31, was left heartbroken when his mother and four other relatives were killed in the rocket attack in Jabalia earlier this month.

He knows his daughter was pulled from the rubble but has had no more news since the blast on December 3. He is now begging to be reunited with his injured wife Rania, 19, and their daughter Mila.

Dalloul, who came to Britain as an asylum seeker 2017 before starting up a takeaway business, Royal Grill House, in Burnage two years ago, said: “It’s my dream to save them, and I am asking the British government to evacuate them before Christmas. I will just keep fighting to bring them home. No one up to now has given me hope that we can evacuate them. My little daughter was taken from the rubble with my wife. The rest of the family that I still have are all injured.”

Dalloul was rocked by the news his relatives home in the city, which is in northern Gaza, had been flattened in a rocket attack on December 3. He later learned his mum, Halima, 56, brother Mohammed, 36, pregnant sister-in-law Hanin, 20, and his two nieces, Remas, 12, and Ratig, nine, had all died in the blast. Dalloul said his wife and baby had to be pulled from the building’s rubble and were injured along with 15 other relatives.

He added: “I feel broken. I still can’t believe these things happened so quickly, without seeing my mum, without anything, just suddenly in a second I lost my family. They’ve been living in peace, sleeping in peace, not part of Hamas or any party. All of them inside were civilians. But the Israeli missiles don’t differentiate between who you are. Hamas or not Hamas, you will be targeted."

After setting up his takeaway two years ago, Dalloul had recently been granted a spouse visa for his wife Rania and daughter Mila and had expected that they'd join him in the city this year. But the pair were left trapped in Gaza when Israel launched a full ground invasion in retaliation for the deadly attacks from Hamas terrorists on October 7.

He added: “On December 3 at around 5.30pm, I was working in my shop, and my brother-in-law messaged me on WhatsApp. He said 'Your niece has been martyred, but the rest of your family are ok.' But in that moment, I knew there must have been more than one person who had been martyred because the Israeli missiles don’t kill one or two people, they kill whole families. Later, I found the news that five members of my family had been lost, including my mum and my brother, her wife and my two nieces."

Dalloul said he’d been in touch with his mum before the sudden attack, where she had told him to prepare for her possible death.

He added: “My mum, the last time I spoke to her, she said, ‘Listen, my son, in any second, you will receive bad news about us, so just be patient.' She filmed a short video sending her love for me and my brother and that actually happened. I lost her. She and my family did everything for me.”

Dalloul hasn’t been able to speak to his wife and daughter since the bombardment. But he did hear from a doctor at a hospital that they were thankfully not critically injured. He said the other 15 members of his family, who were hurt in the attack, were still struggling to find suitable hospital treatment.

He added: “They are desperate for me. I spoke to a doctor in a hospital. He told me they had survived and they were not critically injured. But I have not been able to reach them. There was not enough food for my daughter since about 55 days ago. She lost about 4kg due to the lack of food that she needed and she needs special milk. I have two nephews, and their legs are still broken. But we couldn’t find an x-ray device in the whole of the Gaza area. There is only a primary unit to be treated for the injured people. It’s really hopeless.”

The Foreign Office and the Israeli embassy in London have been contacted for comment.