A 21-year-old Mayo man, who was studying computer science in Gaza City, is preparing to travel by horse if necessary, to get to the Rafah crossing.
Saeed Adli Sadeq from Bahola told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland that he is waiting for confirmation from the Department of Foreign Affairs that Irish citizens can cross the border before he leaves Khan Yunis where he moved recently.
“I would ride a horse to get to the border. Actually, there's no other transport way. There's no fuel. There's nothing. All the fuel is going to the hospitals, which is the priority.”
“The Irish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Irish Embassy in Tel Aviv and in Cairo, they did not delay in performing their duty towards me as an Irish citizen. They did not stop communicating with me since day one.
“The problem is they have no official confirmation or information about when Irish citizens will be able to leave Gaza. From my opinion, it's all about the countries and their political relationship with Israel and Egypt.
“Also, from my point of view, Ireland is a small country so I think we would get to leave after the big countries like Germany, America, France, and Belgium.”
Mr Sadeq, who is the son of writer and former Palestinian diplomat Adli Sadeq, said he is nervous about waiting as Khan Yunis has been targeted by Israeli airstrikes.
However, once he gets word that he can cross the border he will make his way to Rafah, by any means.
“I'm here in Gaza as an Irish citizen. The reason why is because I have done my Leaving Cert recently and I have decided to study university in Gaza. So I actually became a student at the Islamic University of Gaza. And unfortunately, it's gone now with Israeli airstrikes.”
When asked had he been fearful, he said: “I was terrified, to be honest. But it's funny because I got used to it. Bombs everywhere. Airstrikes everywhere. Day and night came. And when you live like three weeks under this situation, I think you were able to get used to it.
In reply to a question about how he will get back to Ireland, Mr Sadeq said “I have been told that officers from the Irish Embassy in Cairo will be waiting for us at the Egyptian side of the border. I think the plan will be to get us safely out from Gaza and then we deal with the rest ourselves.
“It's not safe here in Khan Yunis, to be honest. There is no safe place here in Gaza. Safe does not exist. There's bombs everywhere. Air strikes. There was an airstrike five-hundred meters away from my house.
“Everybody here in Gaza lost something. I know many of my friends who lost their houses in the north. I know people who lost their families and personally I lost my cousin.
"He was a good young man. He was working as a barber to help his family with money and for himself to get married. He was killed and murdered by an Israeli airstrike.”
Mr Sadeq plans to travel home to Mayo by bus from Dublin airport. “I will be travelling back to Ireland to see my family, to see my friends, to see my neighbours and of course, to take a break and maybe to go to a therapist. I need a therapist to be honest from what I have seen here in Gaza.
“So I will go back to Ireland hopefully soon to my family and just to relax from what I have seen here. Of course, I can't wait to see my family back in County Mayo. I'll just take the bus from Dublin Airport, bus number 22, which is eight minutes away from our house in Bohola.”
Vivienne Clarke
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