Key facts
- Mohammed Abed, a Palestinian systems engineer from Gaza, arrived in Mexico City in May 2025 with 17 family members.
- Abed sells Palestinian food at markets in Mexico City, finding a sense of peace away from the war.
- Roughly 160 Palestinians now live in Mexico, doubling the population since 2022.
- Abed's father, Kamal Abed, who had emigrated to Mexico years ago, died of a heart attack in 2024 while trying to arrange his family's evacuation from Gaza.
- Abed's brother, Shadi, secured travel authorization for 18 family members to leave Gaza.
- Abed's younger brother, Fadi, has a following of 48,000 on Instagram for his food business.
Palestinians displaced by the ongoing conflict in Gaza are finding new homes and livelihoods in Mexico City, with some establishing food businesses to rebuild their lives. Mohammed Abed, a 36-year-old systems engineer from Gaza, arrived in Mexico last spring with 17 family members seeking asylum. He now sells Palestinian dishes like hummus, baba ganoush, falafel, shawarma, and kebab at an open-air market in Condesa, a cosmopolitan neighborhood in the capital.
Abed described how the sounds of planes and thunder in Mexico City still trigger anxiety and memories of the 2025 Israeli bombing campaign in Gaza, where an air strike killed his 4-year-old daughter. He stated that hearing a plane in Gaza meant something terrible could happen at any moment, and his body still reacts to such sounds.
His path to Mexico was facilitated by his father, Kamal Abed, who had previously emigrated from Gaza to Mexico and obtained citizenship. Kamal Abed attempted to arrange his family's evacuation after the war's outbreak but died of a heart attack in 2024 before completing the process. Abed's brother, Shadi, then took over the effort, securing travel authorization for 18 family members with the help of civil organizations and asylum lawyers in Mexico. After months of paperwork, the family crossed into Jordan, passed through Turkey, and arrived in Mexico City in May 2025, where they have all obtained permanent residency.
Mexico City is now home to approximately 160 Palestinians, roughly doubling the country's Palestinian population since 2022, according to official figures. While most displaced individuals remain in Gaza, and many who left resettled in neighboring Egypt and Jordan, a small number have made their way to Mexico.
Abed's younger brother, Fadi, also operates a Palestinian food business in Mexico City, building a following of 48,000 on Instagram under the handle hijo.de.palestina. Abed is also working to bring his two sisters from Gaza to Mexico. In May 2025, Abed's youngest son, Yusuf, was born in Mexico City, automatically granting him Mexican citizenship.