No Irish citizens on list to leave Gaza via Rafah Crossing today
Palestinians and foreign aid workers wait to cross into Egypt at Rafah, Gaza Strip, on Wednesday. Picture: AP/Fatima Shbair
There are currently no Irish citizens on the list to leave Gaza by the Rafah Crossing, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has confirmed.
The border crossing first opened on November 1, allowing the first foreign and dual-nationals to leave the Gaza Strip for the first time since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7.
In a statement, the DFA said that there are currently an estimated 8,000 foreign and dual-nationals, as well as immediate dependents in Gaza seeking to leave via the Rafah Crossing into Egypt.
"The evacuations are being managed country by country on a phased basis. It will take some time for this process to be completed," a spokesperson for the DFA said.
"Irish citizens are not included in today’s list, but we continue to urgently seek to have Irish citizens included on the list in the coming days.
"Our Embassies in Cairo and Tel Aviv are in regular communication with the authorities in Egypt and Israel. We also remain in ongoing communication with Irish citizens on the ground."
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 said he was 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,” he told RTÉ's .
The crossing was opened on Wednesday, under a Qatari-mediated deal, and the first of about 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.
According to Mr Sadeq, the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Irish embassies in Tel Aviv and Cairo "did not delay in performing their duties 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. In 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,” he said.
Mr Sadeq, who is the son of writer and former Palestinian diplomat Adli Sadeq, said he was nervous about waiting, as Khan Yunis has been targeted by Israeli airstrikes.
However, once he gets word 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 in Gaza.
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.
“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.
“So I will go back to Ireland hopefully soon to my family and just to relax from what I have seen here. I can't wait to see my family back in Co Mayo. I'll just take the bus from Dublin Airport, bus number 22, which is eight minutes away from our house in Bohola.”
On Thursday, Trade Promotion Minister, Dara Calleary, said the Department of Foreign Affairs was “working incredibly hard” to get Irish passport-holders out of Gaza.
Mr Calleary said the department was in regular contact with each of the people on the list of Irish passport holders it was aware of in the region, understood to be about 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 said 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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