A family of four has officially made it to Windsor after fleeing the Gaza Strip due to the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.
The family arrived at the VIA Rail station shortly after 11 a.m. on Wednesday surrounded by a large group of supporters to welcome them to Canada and to the city.
41-year-old Ahmed Ismail along with his wife, 38-year-old Eman Alhabbash, and his two children 14-year-old Jana Ismail and 5-year-old Abdeullah Ismail have made it to Windsor after 47 days.
His family had to pay to make it through the Rafah border into Egypt before making their way to Canada on a VISA. Palestinian families in Windsor paid the money for the Ismail family to be able to leave the Gaza Strip, and they will be staying with these families while they are in the city.
Ismail says as his family departed for Canada they felt an overwhelming feeling of peace - knowing they would now be safe.
Ahmed Ismail says there are no words to describe the moment of seeing the supporters in Windsor at the train station.
"Watching these people who don't really know us, but they feel for us. Their actual faces look similar to us like I knew them someday. And there's something that is shared between us."
He says the journey to get out of Gaza was a nearly impossible mission.
"You have to pay a lot of money - a lot of money that you can't afford because you already lost everything. You lost your car, you lost your job, you lost your house, everything is destroyed. So you don't have cash for that, but you have to do this, you have to pay this price to some kind of companies who work for agencies to take people out from the Gaza Strip."
Ismail says he feels at peace being in Canada.
"When we were going to Canada at the first of our trip it was like heaven. And you have to struggle, and whenever you feel like you're down and you want to surrender - because it's very hard - we say 'It's Canada, let's give it another push, let's start again, let's move again'. And now we're here."
The Ismail family is in Canada on visitor status for three years and will be offered work and study permits only.
Ahmed Ismail says he's slightly worried about finding housing and a job in Windsor, but says it's fine as long as they are out of Gaza.
Next steps will be to fill out a resume and work with agencies to find employment.