Editor’s Note: The above video is from Oct. 11, 2023 when DC News Now first talked to Joe Rauchenberger about his sister’s family being trapped in the Gaza Strip.
RESTON, Va. (DC News Now) — A man whose sister and her family found themselves caught in the middle of the conflict between Israel and Hamas made it out of Gaza weeks after they first found themselves stuck there.
Joe Rauchenberger, who lives in Reston, shared the update with DC News Now on Friday, Nov. 3.
Rauchenberger’s sister, Emilie, who holds dual citizenship in the United States and the United Kingdom, and her five children went to the Gaza Strip to visit her husband’s olive tree farm. While they were there, tensions erupted between Israel and Hamas. She and the children found themselves stuck in an apartment with 30 relatives.
Rauchenberger said Friday that family made it out of Gaza Thursday in the first group of 400 Americans who were able to leave. He added that they were bussed to Cairo where they were to stay for a couple of nights before traveling out of Egypt.
