He asked to be identified by only his first name because members of his community have been targeted online and slandered in professional circles for expressing pro-Palestinian and Lebanese views.

Apart from a few cousins, Khaled doesn’t have much family in Ottawa; he’s one of 11 children, with six sisters and four brothers “still living back home.” With their spouses and children, he estimates he has more than 100 family members in Lebanon.  

His sister Shahida is 65 and has just been informed that she likely has less than one month to live before her chronic lung illness kills her. She is not a Canadian citizen, nor does she have a visa, and she’s too weak to travel, so she is staying in her hometown, a village called Al Rawda, with her family. The village is near the border with Israel and is so small that it is not on most maps. 

“The doctor said it could be months, it could be weeks, it could be days. She would never leave her husband or her kids or her grandchildren, and she wouldn’t be able to handle the trip,” said Khaled. “And if she came here and died here, her wish is to go back and be buried in her hometown with her family.”

Instead, Khaled said he’s been trying to get to Lebanon in time to see her, but he’s unable to get a flight into the country. Another option is “go by sea” from Greece or Cyprus, or travel to Jordan and then through Syria.

“It’s not simple. It’s not stable in those places, and it’s not safe,” said Khaled. 

For now, Khaled said he’s hoping for a ceasefire so that he will be able to get into the country to say goodbye. 

He has been trying to coordinate with his family, but with homes and villages damaged or evacuated, it’s difficult to keep them all safe. Many family members are supporting Shahida and “trying to provide palliative care at home,” and with so many nieces, nephews and children, it is difficult to relocate. 

He said sometimes his family tries to stay together in one place, but in those cases, “if it gets bombed, you run the risk of losing everybody.”

His sister is living with only one working lung, he explained, and the unstable healthcare system means that some days she is without medication or treatment, and the family has to find her medication elsewhere and send it to her.

“We believe it’s caused by what’s in the air. We’ve been bombed, and some of the missiles and bad attacks happened right on their side of the swimming pool,” he explained. “It’s obvious that that’s what it is. It’s gotten worse because of what she was exposed to, with the white phosphorus, and it got more severe because of it.”

Khaled knows the signs: in 2006, a white phosphorus munition set fire to his uncle’s garden and olive tree farm. 

“He tried to put the fire out  and inhaled the stuff, and it killed him hours after he inhaled it.” 

When Khaled left Lebanon over 30 years ago, it was in pursuit of a safe and stable future for the family he hoped to one day have.

“I gave up on corrupt governments, corrupt politicians, corrupt society, and figured out that if I want to have a family, I want my kids to have a better future. I chose Canada,” he said. “It was a hard journey, but I was lucky to be able to come to Canada and make that home.”

Now, Khaled is married with three sons. His eldest is pursuing his master’s degree from Carleton University and his middle son just got married. He sends his sons to Lebanon a few times a year to visit their family, but they won’t go this year. 

“I don’t get emotional about my family. I’ve lived through civil wars. I know what this is,” he said. “But when I talk about Canada as a country, I do get emotional. I have tears in my eyes. This country has given me everything.”

During his time in Ottawa, Khaled has been a business owner and worked in a politics, including as a member of an advisory board for the federal government. He’s seen “both sides of the coin”, he says, and the current politicians are “part of the problem.”

“You know what, the Canadian government doesn’t have any obligation towards my family. But it has an obligation to stand for what’s right, and to stand on the right side of history,” he said. “We need strong politicians who will speak their mind about this. If the government wants to represent Canada as a society and people, that’s what they should do.”

For his family members who are not Canadian citizens or do not have visas, Khaled says he understands why it would be difficult to bring them here. But if the government stepped in for “what’s right and what’s wrong” to aid in negotiations and ceasefire talks, he would have a chance to get home in time to see his sister one last time. 

“I wish more of my family had come. I came to this country and never used any money from the government. I grew a business, I created jobs,” Khaled explained. “I did all the things immigrants are supposed to do.

“I’ve given up on the politicians, but not on the country. I’m emotional when I talk about this country and what it has to offer the world. I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else on this Earth,” he said. “Now you would hope the (federal government) wouldn’t shy away from action just to be politically correct.

“There’s right and there’s wrong. They have to speak up on that. Right now, they’re complicit.”

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Exchanges of fire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon over the last year erupted into broader violence in the last week as Israel ramped up its campaign against Hezbollah by air and Tuesday began sending in ground troops.

Also on Tuesday, Iran launched some 200 ballistic missiles at Israel, and warned of a “harsher” attack if Israel responds in kind.

Trudeau called Iran’s attack a further destabilizing action by a “terrorist regime” that put civilians at risk and runs the risk of a wider war.

He says he spoke to other G7 leaders in an early morning call and all agreed the international community must do everything it can to achieve peace and stability in the region.

Earlier in the day, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council that in just a week the alarming situation in Lebanon has gone from bad “to much, much worse,” and called for an end to the hostilities.

— With files from The Associated Press

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Ali Hreich said he found out Tuesday from his uncle that his grandparents, Hussein and Daad Tabaja, were dead after the car they were travelling in was struck, and he had to break the news to his distraught parents.

READ MORE: Trudeau urges de-escalation after Israeli attacks in Lebanon

The two were travelling from Kfartibneet to Beirut to seek out safety as the Israeli air assault began. They had been reported missing for the previous 12 hours, and cell phone reception in the country is spotty.

With the family unable to reach them, Hreich said his uncle had ventured out on foot to find his grandparents after being told they were travelling.

“I wake my sister to take her to school. I had two missed calls from my other uncle that lives in Bahrain. I called him back and he told me that they passed away due to Israeli airstrike. And so I was the one that had to break the news to my dad, my mom, which was alone very hard,” he said in an interview.

Global Affairs Canada on Wednesday confirmed the deaths of two Canadian citizens in Lebanon, while three others are injured.

Hreich said his grandparents, who had to be identified by DNA testing, already survived three separate bombings by Israel. Both were Canadian citizens who had returned to Lebanon after their eldest children left home, he said.

The most recent attacks by Israel have killed at least 558 people in Lebanon. Israel says it’s targeting Hezbollah sites, claiming the terror group is hiding weapons in residential areas. But many Lebanese supporters say the attacks are disproportionately killing civilians unaffiliated with Hezbollah, including the elderly and children.

Lebanon’s health minister said the attacks are causing “carnage,” with hospitals struggling to keep up with the number of casualties.

Hreich said now is the time for Canada to start evacuations.

“I think definitely right now is the time before things escalate. And things have already escalated, because Hezbollah… declared war yesterday. So now things are already worse,” he said, adding that no one from the Canadian government has reached out to his family.

“Right now… especially, is the time for the Canadian government to step up and help the people there that need help.”

However, no such plans for evacuations have been announced, with the Canadian government telling those in Lebanon to leave while they can.

Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly on Wednesday said Canada has been preparing for months for an evacuation, securing agreements with key countries to facilitate such an effort.

But she said nothing has been ordered yet and urged Canadians in Lebanon to leave the country now, saying Canada has upped the number of staff to help process documents needed to return.

“That’s why we are ready… if things escalate.”

But Hreich said that’s easier said than done. Many commercial flights out of the country have been cancelled owing to the uncertain security situation.

He said his uncle, who’s also a Canadian citizen, is looking to leave to join other family in Bahrain, but his flights out of Lebanon have been cancelled three separate times. He’s booked a flight to Bahrain for Monday though Hreich said he’s not sure the flight will leave.

READ MORE: Two Canadians dead in Lebanon, as Liberal MP urges more action for de-escalation

Back in Ottawa, one Liberal MP pressed the Trudeau government to urge others to end the conflict.

Prior to his party’s caucus meeting on Wednesday, Liberal MP Fayçal El-Khoury, who was born in Lebanon, said Canada needs to push its peer countries more to stop a cycle of violence in the Middle East, or it could lead to a world war.

He says his cousin who works as an ophthalmologist in Beirut saw shocking amounts of bodily trauma in a recent explosion, with numerous people requiring their eyes to be removed.

The Montreal-area MP says the Port of Beirut must be protected from attacks, as it might be the only means of evacuating thousands of Canadians if that is required.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called for de-escalation by Israel and Hezbollah and an end to the violence.

“We are devastated by the loss of two Canadians, but the entire Lebanese people are suffering right now. Women, children, innocents suffering terrible violence [and] fear. ”

with files from the Canadian Press

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