During the brief moments that Nabil Halas had to speak with his wife and children in Gaza, the Palestinian Canadian says it leaves him with a broken heart.

Halas told CTV National News: "Every call takes me hours and hours to be able to answer, before my wife ends the call, saying 'Maybe this is the last time you will hear our voice.'"

The Burlington, Ontario resident, with his wife and two children, says he has 18 other family members trapped in Gaza, where Israeli forces are conducting a campaign to uproot Hamas.

He added that an Israeli airstrike hit the residential building owned by his brother in Gaza, killing his niece and nephew.

Since the start of the war, Halas says he has lost 15 family members, saying "We can't focus. I don't know who will survive," "Just as I hope my family, my daughter, my son, get through, my brother's family also hopes to survive."

Israeli forces have launched frequent airstrikes, besieged Gaza, and restricted the entry of food, water, and other supplies into the strip following the deadly attack by Hamas on October 7.

More than 1,400 people were killed in Israel, mostly on October 7, and 242 hostages were taken to Gaza, according to the Associated Press.

The Hamas-run Ministry of Health in Gaza reported that the number of Palestinian deaths has reached 9,227. In the occupied West Bank, more than 140 Palestinians were killed in violence and Israeli raids.

Six Canadians, along with a person closely linked to Canada, died following the Hamas attack, and two others remain missing.

Since then, some foreign nationals and their families have made exit journeys from Gaza through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.

On Wednesday evening, Global Affairs Canada said it was aware of reports that a Canadian managed to leave with help from a third party.

However, about 450 Canadians, permanent residents, and their families are in Gaza and want to leave.

On Friday, the Global Affairs organization sent an email to Canadians in the area saying "More than 400 Canadian citizens, permanent residents, and eligible family members will be able to leave Gaza via the Rafah border crossing in the coming days, possibly as early as Sunday."

Following a summit in Washington, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said: "We need to see a humanitarian truce to bring in aid, get Canadians out, get vulnerable people out, and release the hostages. These are things that people around the world do."

Halas says his family has moved several times amid the bombings and is currently residing in central Gaza.

He urges Canada to support a ceasefire and provide a safe corridor for people to leave, with the help of international relief organizations like the Red Cross.

While Halas hopes diplomatic efforts will succeed, he continues to criticize what he calls the Canadian government's "second-class" treatment of Palestinian Canadians.

Even if his family manages to leave via the Rafah crossing, he is concerned about the risks such a journey might bring, adding: "I could lose my family at any moment."

He said: "Even I am here, as a Canadian, I wish I was there with them," "I would rather die with them than live a life without family."