LA mayor helps city employee escape Gaza

With the help of Mayor Karen Bass, a Los Angeles city employee who has been trapped in Gaza for weeks has been safely evacuated and is in Egypt Friday, escaping the war and violence that has gripped the area since October.

According to media reports, Sohail Biary from Simi Valley was visiting his parents in Gaza when the fighting broke out between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, a result of a deadly terrorist attack in Israel by Hamas on Oct. 7.

Bass said in a statement released Thursday that her office has been working to get Biary to safety and she has been in regular contact with Biary’s son.

“I am relieved to announce today that the employee is now safe in a neighboring country and out of the war zone. I personally want to thank Tom Perez and the Biden administration, Senator Alex Padilla, and Congresswoman Julia Brownley for working with us to arrive at today’s result. We look forward to welcoming our colleague home,” Bass said in the statement.

Hundreds of people with foreign passports have been allowed to leave Gaza to Egypt since Wednesday. Many of those people are Americans looking to escape the war zone.

Gaza has been targeted by Israel with air strikes since October. The fighting began when Hamas terrorists attacked and killed more than 1,400 Israelis.

Biary’s son, Khalid Biary, told the Ventura County Star about his father’s situation last week. Sohail Biary, 53, traveled to Gaza City, his hometown, before war broke out in the area. He works as a district supervisor for the city’s General Services Department and has four children, the Star reported.

“He came here with nothing and started a life here,” Khalid Biary told the Star of his father, saying the elder Biary had sought asylum in the U.S. 30 years ago and settled in Simi Valley.

President Joe Biden was asked by a reporter in Washington, D.C. what his message was to Americans still in Gaza.

“They’ll be coming home,” Biden said.