Irish citizen in Gaza within 700m of crossing Rafah border into Egypt
Palestinians with foreign passports at Rafah Border Gate wait to cross into Egypt. Picture: Abed Rahim Khatib/Anadolu via Getty Images
An Irish passport holder who is within 700 metres of the Rafah border crossing has said he is hopeful that he, his wife and teenage children will get to leave Gaza soon.
Ayman Shaheen, who lived in Dublin for nine years, said he could see the Egyptian border but it is not yet open to Irish passport holders.
The crossing was opened on Wednesday, under a Qatari-mediated deal, and the first of around 500 foreign nationals and 81 critically wounded people left Gaza and crossed into Egypt. The evacuees had been trapped in Gaza since the start of the war more than three weeks ago.
They were driven through the Rafah border crossing, and a source at the border said they were undergoing security checks on the Egyptian side.
Mr Shaheen said he has been receiving regular updates from the Department of Foreign Affairs.
“They told me the Rafah crossing for today it is open, but it is not for the Irish passport holders. It is for a certain number of nationals and it will be country by country within the coming days," he told RTÉ's Morning Ireland.
Mr Shaheen, who is a political science specialist, said he felt the bombardments on Rafah were fewer than on Gaza City.
He said:
"Their focus now is on Gaza City and the north in their area. That's why bombardments actually decrease. And in general, that is the situation."
Mr Shaheen said he was fortunate that he had been able to leave as there were foreign nationals in Gaza City who wanted to get out, but they were unable to do so.
Once Mr Shaheen and his family get over the border, their plan is to go to Cairo and from there to Dublin.
Meanwhile, Trade Promotion Minister, Dara Calleary, said the Department of Foreign Affairs is “working incredibly hard” to get Irish passport holders out of Gaza.
Mr Calleary said the department is in regular contact with each of the people on the list of Irish passport holders they are aware of in the region, understood to be approximately 35 people.
His comments come after Foreign Affairs Minister, Micheál Martin, said the government had not been notified of any Irish passport holders leaving Gaza through the Rafah crossing into Egypt.
Speaking on the same radio show, Mr Calleary said: “I have to re-iterate if there’s anybody—or anybody that has connections—in Gaza that haven’t registered with the Department of Foreign Affairs, please register.”
He added: “They’re throwing everything at it. It is a very complex situation. It is only today that people are beginning to get out and I think everything is being done to ensure that we get Irish passport holders out.”
Hamas's shock ground attack into southern Israel on October 7 that triggered the hostilities killed about 300 soldiers and 1,100 civilians, Israel says.
The Gaza health ministry says at least 8,796 Palestinians in the narrow coastal enclave, including 3,648 children, have been killed by Israeli strikes since then.
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