When immigration lawyer Hana Marku opened her email weeks ago to a photo of an emaciated infant in the Gaza Strip, she said she felt helpless.

The child is among about 50 Palestinians the Toronto-based lawyer is representing. She said each one was blocked without explanation from submitting applications under the temporary visa program the Canadian government created to help them flee the Israel-Hamas war.

"She's a baby girl who was born last year, and she was born into this war," Marku said. "An infant whose bones I can count just by looking at a photo of her."

Marku said her clients in the Gaza Strip are facing death every day. One narrowly escaped being killed as he was bringing home flour after a bomb fell nearby, she said. Some have witnessed loved ones crushed by falling rubble.

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