A PALESTINIAN FAMILY living in Dublin has made a plea for the Irish Government to help their daughter Saja Samour (26) escape from the Gaza Strip, where she has been trapped since the start of Israel’s attacks on the territory launched in the wake of 7 October.
As Israeli bombing of the strip has intensified over recent weeks, Saja has had to evacuate three different houses, and is now based in Dair al-Balah, which is in the central area of the Gaza Strip.
On 5 November, a massive Israeli strike on the al-Mughazi refugee camp in the city killed at least 37 people, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
Sitting in a hotel in Dublin across from Leinster House yesterday evening, her father Akram explained that every day, he and his wife Hanan are preparing themselves to “hear the worst at any minute”.
As he spoke hundreds of protesters were chanting “Free, free Palestine” and “Israeli ambassador, out, out, out,” outside of the Dáil, while TDs were gathered inside voting on a motion calling for diplomatic and economic sanctions on Israel.
The motion was defeated by the Government. The Dáil proceedings were taking place after 23 Irish citizens managed to cross into Egypt via the Rafah crossing. They were the first Irish citizens to leave Gaza since the start of the conflict.
The Department of Foreign Affairs has told The Journal that exit from the Gaza strip for civilians is subject to “the final decision of the relevant local authorities”.
The Department said that these authorities have made it clear that the current focus for facilitated departures from Gaza is for foreign and dual nationals, and their immediate dependents.
At present, Saja does not fall within this category, and like other Palestinian citizens whose families are based in Ireland, she is in the process of applying for a visa to come to Ireland.
The Irish Government has made it clear that the fast-tracked Temporary Protection system for Ukrainian refugees will not be made available to Gazans.
The Samour family are calling on the Government to do something to speed up the visa application process for people in Saja’s situation.
Akram, Hanan, and their children Ibrahim (9), Razan (11), Abdelrahman (15), and Mohammed (20), are all hoping that this development might mean that the Government could help Saja to leave as well.
Mohammed was born in Belfast when the family had to flee Gaza during the violence of the second intifada, and is an Irish citizen. The rest of the family all have received stamp 4 permanent residency, which makes them eligible to apply for citizenship as well.
The Samour family has heard that the Irish Government has helped some relatives of Irish citizens to cross out of Gaza. The news has given them new hope.
Akram, who said he is not sleeping much these days, has emailed 60 TDs and two Government departments to ask if they could help his daughter.
“The office of the Minister for Foreign Affairs passed me on to the Minister for Justice, and her office advised us that Saja should apply for a visa. We wrote back and said please, this is an emergency case. We could lose our daughter at any minute, we need urgent help,” he explained.
In the last two days Akram has lost contact with his brother. Ibrahim (67) was staying near the Al-Shifa hospital, which was raided by Israeli forces yesterday, the last time Akram managed to contact him.
Over the weekend he learned that his sister passed away as a result of a heart attack in Gaza.
“My sister had disabilities, including learning difficulties, diabetes and other health conditions. I know that she has not been able to get any medical attention, as the hospitals are under attack.
“I am not a doctor, but I feel that it was the fear that killed her. She was very scared, there was nowhere for her to go. We know what it is like, we lived through two wars, but even they were different. In 2016 the hospitals weren’t under attack as well.
“I hope no one here ever experiences what it is like to be under attack from F-16 Fighter jets. The whole house shakes,” Akram said (F-16′s are a type of aircraft used by the Israeli military. It has the second largest fleet of the jets in the world).
Losing contact with their family members and friends has made Hanan and Akram even more desperate to see Saja evacuated from Gaza.
On the days when they do not hear from their daughter, Hanan said that it is difficult to cope psychologically.
“We are believers. We believe that we cannot stop what will happen. Sometimes though, we cry. My wife cries. I am a man, and I cry too. We are under enormous pressure,” Akram said.
Saja uses a small generator to power her phone, and make contact with her family. Each time they speak, Saja asks them to pray more intensively for her.
“She is trying to be strong. She doesn’t want to worry us, but of course she is scared. Saja was working remotely for a Saudi company, since she graduated with a degree in business administration. She used some of the money in her bank account to try and buy things for the children living close by, chocolate and other things.
“Now things have become harder. She goes to the bakery and waits for five hours just to get a few loaves of bread for all the people she is staying with. They don’t have electricity. The water only works every few days, I know they are struggling,” Akram said.
Mohammed, who was born in Belfast, is a college student in Dublin. He said it is difficult to go about day-to-day life her while worrying about his sister, who he last saw three years ago.
“I feel so bad for her. She couldn’t come to Ireland with us in 2020, when we returned after living in Gaza again for a few years, because she was over 18 at the time.
“We want her to be safe. We want her to be in Ireland with us, we are hoping that the Government will be able to help,” he said.
Mohammed tries to call his sister every day, sometimes she answers, sometimes she cannot because telephone networks are down.
“There have been times, when I have gotten through to her, that the line cut out while we were speaking… it is hard to describe the panic that I have felt,” Mohammed said.
Razan is in sixth class this year. She said some days it is hard, because everyone in her family is stressed about Saja.
“Some days I am sad, and some days I am okay. My classmates and my teachers are very supportive and try to cheer me up,” she said.
The Department of Foreign Affairs told The Journal that it expects additional Irish citizens and dependants in Gaza to be on the list to leave via the Rafah crossing in the coming days.
The Department remains in regular communication with Irish citizens on the ground and we are updating them directly as soon as we have confirmed information.
“We are working consistently to ensure that all those who wish to do so will be able to exit as soon as possible,” a spokesperson said.
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