The wife and two young children of Ramiz Younis of Little Rock, Arkansas, have been turned away at Egypt's border repeatedly and now have no way to escape Israel's escalating bombardment and ground invasion without U.S. diplomatic or military intervention, according to the complaint, filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas. They told a federal judge that the "inaction" of Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is endangering them and thousands of others like them.
Ramiz Younis and his two children, Zain and Zaina Younis, are U.S. citizens. Younis' wife, Folla Saqer, is a permanent resident. They have registered for evacuation assistance at the American Embassy in Israel, to no avail, Younis says in an attached declaration.
"They are trapped abroad in the Gaza Strip in an active war zone under imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury," the plaintiffs said. "They are not alone among U.S. citizens also in grave danger. However, they have lost any effective communication with the outside world."
The family was joined by the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and the Arab American Civil Rights League in filing an emergency suit requesting a court order compelling the officials to use "all resources at their disposal" to get Americans out of Gaza. The U.S. has evacuated Americans from combat zones during other conflicts and has offered "humanitarian flights" to citizens in Israel who want to leave, the plaintiffs said, yet the State Department told the Arab groups that it would not evacuate anyone from Gaza.
That refusal amounted to a final action that violated the Administrative Procedure Act, the plaintiffs argued, saying the decision was arbitrary and capricious as well as discriminatory. The plaintiffs also say they are being denied equal protection.
They also argued that the administration had failed to apply diplomatic pressure in the interest of protecting U.S. citizens in Gaza, which is the "only compelling governmental interest at stake here," the plaintiffs said.
"The United States has influence over the state of lsrael (which is commonly referred to as 'the United States' greatest ally') and, therefore, over the Israeli Defense Forces," the plaintiffs said. "The United States also provides foreign aid to Israel, which it can condition upon the safe return of its citizens."
They argued that Blinken and Austin failed to adequately warn or attempt to evacuate U.S. citizens who were in Gaza after Hamas, the group governing Gaza, attacked Israeli military installations and communities bordering the territory on Oct. 7, killing more than 1,400 people.
Gaza has been under constant bombardment by the Israeli military since then, with a ground invasion by Israeli troops apparently already underway that will be focused on Gaza's population centers, the plaintiffs said.
"Individual plaintiffs and members of the plaintiff organizations will be subject to assault, attack, bombardment, dismemberment and death if they attempt to escape through any route out of population centers," they said.
A State Department spokesperson declined to comment on the case Tuesday, citing pending litigation, but said in a statement to Law360 that the security concerns in Israel were different from those in Gaza. The security environment affects the agency's ability to provide consular services to U.S. citizens there, the spokesperson said, adding that U.S. government employees have been prohibited from traveling to Gaza for years due to the department's Level 4 travel advisory.
The spokesperson said the agency's commitment to helping U.S. citizens no matter where they are is "unwavering," saying the department has made "thousands of phone calls and sent thousands of emails" to citizens in Gaza, their immediate family members and loved ones who have been contacting the department.
"We continue our efforts to remain in contact with U.S. citizens in Gaza via email and phone calls to provide the best information we can about shifting conditions to allow U.S. citizens to make their own decisions regarding their safety and security in an incredibly difficult and fluid situation," he said.
A travel notice on the State Department's website advised U.S. citizens in Gaza to consider using the Rafah crossing at the border with Egypt, saying officials are working to find other ways out.
"We anticipate that the situation at the Rafah crossing will remain fluid and unpredictable," the notice said. "If you assess it to be safe, you may wish to move closer to the Rafah border crossing — there may be very little notice if the crossing opens, and it may only open for a limited time."
The department said in the notice that the ongoing hostilities made finding departure options for U.S. citizens "complex."
The spokesperson said the U.S. Embassy in Cairo sent personnel as close to the border as they could safely be positioned, and added that the department was "consulting intensively" with the Egyptian government about moving them to the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing "as soon as conditions permit."
An attorney for the plaintiffs, Justin Eisele, said in an email to Law360 that the U.S. has a long tradition of swiftly evacuating its citizens who are in harm's way, but is denying Palestinian Americans what it is offering to Americans in Israel.
"This contradiction cannot be explained," he said. "The U.S. government has been all words and no action. That's why we sued."
Another attorney for the plaintiffs, Mirriam Seddiq, posted on X on Tuesday that the block where Younis' parents lived was bombed, but that he received word that they were alive.
The family is represented by Justin T. Eisele and Mirriam Z. Seddiq of the Seddiq Law Firm.
Counsel information for the government was not immediately available.
The case is Younis et al. v. Blinken et al., case number 4:23-cv-01038, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas.
--Editing by Karin Roberts.
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