Irish citizens in Gaza remain stranded as Israel continues to deny them permission to leave

After almost three months, Irish citizens remain stranded in Gaza as Israel continues to block them from leaving the Palestinian enclave, which remains under heavy bombardment.

The families of Irish citizen Zak Hania and Muhammad Hania, whose wife is an Irish citizen, managed to depart for Ireland in November, while the two men were denied permission by Israel to leave.

They are currently staying in Rafah, the nearest border town to Egypt, after Israeli strikes forced them first to leave Gaza City and then the southern city of Khan Younis, as Israel widened its military campaign.

Zak is currently alternating between staying in a relative’s house at night and at a tent in a school compound in Rafah.

Supermarket wines: Two great Italian wines to try

---

Brendan O’Connor brings his contrary streak to a cosy conversation about immigration

---

John FitzGerald: An attempt to buy the next election with a giveaway budget would be a gross miscalculation

---

US student protests: Democrats are worried this is 1968 again

---

The Department of Foreign Affairs said in December that 56 Irish citizens and dependants had been assisted in leaving Gaza since the war began and that a small number of Irish citizens remained

His 62-year-old sister, who had diabetes, recently died due to the lack of medication and adequate food in Gaza, where the local population is spending hours queuing for food and toilets.

Waed Shnaino, the 22-year-old wife of Irish citizen Adham Shnaino, is also in Rafah, which she has been unable to leave to come join her husband in Ireland.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said in December that 56 Irish citizens and dependants had been assisted in leaving Gaza since the war began and that a small number of Irish citizens remained in Gaza to whom they were continuing to provide assistance.

According to an official at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, some 400 EU citizens remain in Gaza.

The process for granting permission to leave the Palestinian enclave has been tightly controlled by the Israeli authorities, in partnership with Egypt.

[ Killed, maimed and orphaned. Israel’s onslaught turns Gaza into ‘graveyard for children’ ]

While some Palestinians have been denied permission to leave due to perceived links with Palestinian militant factions, including Hamas, which launched a surprise attack on Israel in October, murdering 1,200 civilians and soldiers, others have been denied permission for reasons that remain unclear.

The EU-funded hospital has a 240-bed capacity but has been dealing with more than 1,000 patients, as well as civilians seeking shelter

Before October, people who could pose no plausible security threat, such as older people and children, were refused permits to leave Gaza by the Israeli authorities, according to one diplomat based in the region.

The family of Palestinian-Irish-British doctor Ahmed El-Moukhallalati returned to Ireland in November while he stayed on treating patients at Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

After being forced to leave Gaza’s largest hospital, which Israeli forces alleged was the location of a major Hamas command centre, El-Moukhallalati was undertaking up to 10 surgeries a day at the European Gaza Hospital in Khan Younis. The EU-funded hospital has a 240-bed capacity but has been dealing with more than 1,000 patients, as well as civilians seeking shelter.

[ As death toll in Gaza climbs to 21,000, Palestinian president says situation is ‘beyond a catastrophe’ ]

El-Moukhallalati, a plastic surgeon, is actively treating around 250 patients with a small team and describes how chronic shortages of medical equipment have led to soaring rates of infected wounds and outbreaks of disease due to overcrowding, poor sanitary conditions and a lack of clean water.

He had planned to leave Gaza with his young family in November but his name was only included on Britain’s list for departing through the Rafah crossing in mid-December. He then said he would stay in Gaza to assist with the increasing numbers of patients requiring amputations and treatment for serious wounds following Israeli strikes.

“Now that I can leave, I don’t want to,” he said. “I believe that I can provide a lot of help to the people here.”

[ Israeli general says war in Gaza could go on for many months ]

Two Irish-Palestinian families have each lost scores of relatives in the deadly Israeli military campaign on Gaza, which is estimated to have killed some 20,000 people, according to local health authorities. The tradition of communal living, with many generations residing in the same building, has seen the lines of several families in Gaza wiped out by Israeli strikes.

Belfast-born Khalid El-Astal estimates that 150 members of his extended family have been killed, two of whom were identified as Hamas members by Palestinian media and Israeli officials

The family of Dublin-based Ibrahim Al-Agha, who left Gaza for Ireland with his wife and three young children in November, has lost more than 80 relatives in lethal air strikes in Khan Younis.

Belfast-born Khalid El-Astal estimates that 150 members of his extended family have been killed, two of whom were identified as Hamas members by Palestinian media and Israeli officials.

“One of the strikes killed 39 together, another killed 20,” says El-Astal, whose wife, mother, brother and uncle were killed. His children, aged two and four, were injured and later evacuated to Ireland to join their father, who holds a masters in theoretical physics and was working in Saudi Arabia when the war began.

Three Irish men remain working for the UN in Gaza. While last year one of the UN workers attended mass at a church in Gaza City, there are few expectations of celebrations this year.

• Sign up for push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
• Find The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
• Our In The News podcast is now published daily – Find the latest episode here