A 52-year-old Palestinian man and his 23-year-old son swam roughly 8 kilometers across the Aegean Sea from Turkey to the...

A 52-year-old Palestinian man and his 23-year-old son swam roughly 8 kilometers across the Aegean Sea from Turkey to the Greek island of Kos, completing the crossing in about seven hours through darkness and difficult sea conditions. The two set out from the Akyarlar coast near Bodrum carrying nothing more than a pair of flippers and inflatable floats. They had no navigation equipment for the entire overnight swim. According to Aegean Boat Report, an organization that monitors migrant crossings, the father and son are originally from Khan Younis in southern Gaza. They had been evacuated to Egypt for medical treatment during the war, then traveled to Turkey before deciding to attempt the swim to Greece. Before dawn, the family lost contact with the two and feared they had drowned. Hours later, the father and son reached out to say they had made it to shore, exhausted and dehydrated, but alive. After arriving, the two hid near the beach because they feared contact with immigration authorities. Staff from Aegean Boat Report eventually located them and directed them to a safe area to wait for assistance. Greek local police later found them, though no official information was released about their condition or where they were taken. A second monitoring organization called on Greek authorities to provide the pair with urgent medical care. Aegean Boat Report described the direct long-distance swim as extremely rare, even by the standards of the Aegean, where hundreds of crossings are documented each year. The story spread widely on social media. One Gazan now living on Kos wrote that from experience, people pay too much to reach Europe, and that after living there he does not think it is worth risking your life. Another user said he had made the same crossing in 2020. #Aegean #Immigration #Greece