Pursuing water on the moon – and in Gaza

Loay El-Basyouni is working on a mission to dig for water on the Moon, but he hasn’t been able to find a way to send water to his ailing parents stuck in the Gaza Strip.

El-Basyouni, 44, is a Palestinian American engineer who is employed by Blue Origin, the space technology company owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos.

His 75-year-old father and 68-year-old mother have been stuck in Gaza since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct 7. For the past month, they have been in an abandoned medical clinic in northern Gaza that El-Basyouni's father established.

El-Basyouni said that he last spoke to his parents on Dec. 16 shortly after a neighbor had dropped off four liters of water.

His mother told him she had only had one cup of water in 24 hours. She was saving it for his dad, who was extremely sick.

And with his parents unable make the the journey to southern Gaza, El-Basyouni has run out of ideas on how to help them.

"I mean, I'm hoping I can do something," said El-Basyouni.

Scroll for more headlines about the Israel-Hamas war from the Paste BN Network.

Hi, I'm Julius. To receive weekday updates about the Israel-Hamas war, sign up here.