A Galway woman and her daughter caught last night on the Egyptian-Gaza border have appealed for Irish diplomatic intervention to secure their safe exit from Gaza.
Treasa Ní Cheannabháin (56), her daughter Naisrin Elsafty (19) and her Egyptian niece Seham Elhotty (26) were refused entry into Egypt yesterday after they undertook a relief mission on behalf of their charity to Gaza.
The trio were sheltering last night in the home of a Palestinian television crew, as hostilities continued between Israeli armed forces and members of Hamas.
Earlier this week an Israel air strike on a Hamas security compound killed seven men, while two other members of Hamas were shot dead by Israel soldiers near the Egyptian border. Ms Ní Cheannabháin, who is from Barna, Co Galway, and is married to an Egyptian doctor, said that she and her daughter and niece had travelled into the Palestinian territory illicitly by taxi late last week, after they were refused entry by the Egyptian authorities.
The trio dressed in full-length niquabs for the journey, and were stopped twice in attempted robberies during the trip.
The women were carrying €7,700, which was collected by the Galway-Palestinian Children's Fund for relief in Gaza.
The money had been raised through sale of a CD, entitled An Phailistín, written by Ms Ní Cheannabháin and Donal Lunny and recorded with her daughter, Róisín Elsafty and Sharon Shannon.
Ms Ní Cheannabháin said they had been able to distribute the funds and had visited a number of orphanages and hospitals where basic medical services couldn't be provided due to lack of equipment. They also met members of the Hamas government.
Ms Ní Cheannabháin said that when they had tried to leave earlier this week through the Egyptian-Gaza border at Salah-a-Din, they had been refused entry.
The women have made contact with the Egyptian embassy in Dublin and with the Irish embassy in Cairo, but have also appealed to Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern to intervene
