'I don't have enough words to thank you;' Zak Hania returns from Gaza after seven-month 'hell'
Irish-Palestinian man Zak Hania with his wife Batoul Hania and Irish born sons, Nourmohammed (R), and Ahmed, in Dublin Airport as he returned from Palestine. Picture: Leah Farrell/ RollingNews.ie
An Irish citizen who was trapped in Gaza for the past seven months has said he doesn't have enough words to thank the Irish people for helping him and his family.
Zak Hania flew into Dublin this afternoon, from Cairo, after he was evacuated from Gaza on Monday.
Overcome with emotion, he grabbed his four sons — Mazen, 19; Ismael, 17; Ahmed, 14, and Nour-Mohamed, 11, who were all born here and sobbed into their arms, while his wife Batoul stood beside them wiping away her tears.
Mazen then took off his coat and laid it out on the floor for his father who got down on his hands and knees and kissed the ground twice in the arrivals hall in Terminal 1 at Dublin airport.
“I have love and I have respect for this land,” he said. “Ireland is in my heart as is Palestine.
“I don’t have enough words to thank you and thank all the people who are going to the street and being in the street and all the people who are making every effort to support people in Gaza and in Palestine to stop this brutal genocide.
“I think Israel has taken off their mask and they are showing their real face.”
He said: “As human beings we are showing our true humanity. Our determination to stop this crime and to be united all together all humanity to stop this crime.”
He said that his experience of the war, seeing “bombs and missiles day and night” is “indescribable”.Â
“I am coming from the dead,” he said.
The Hania family flew into Dublin airport last November after being evacuated from Gaza by the Irish government.
The eldest child, Mazen, told the at the time that he had to leave his father behind “to die” and that he was now the “son and the father”.
However, today, he was reunited with his father, and they embraced for a lengthy period before addressing reporters.
“I am happy to see my kids and my dear friends,” said Mr Hania.
Overcome with emotion, he sobbed into a handkerchief as the crowd shouted, “free Palestine” and waved Irish and Palestinian flags.
“It’s a very strange feeling to be honest,” said Mr Hania. “I feel my feelings are frozen and numbing. We’ve been in a hell for the last seven months.”
“We are so exhausted; the people of Gaza are very exhausted and tired. It’s very very hard experience to live.Â
“Thank God that I am back and I am safe with my family and my great friends.
“We need to stop this genocide, thank God I survived this genocide, I thank everybody in Ireland, the media the government for making their efforts to get the people out, I want to thank the embassy in Cairo for their kindness.
“For me, I just want to kiss the land that I love, and I respect, and I want to thank God for coming home and seeing my family again.”
The Irish government have been unable to secure the release of several Irish citizens from Gaza but were continuing to liaise with their families here.
Batoul Hania told the she paid €4,600 to a travel agency in Egypt who secure the release of her husband through the Rafah Crossing.
The Hania family were separated for seven months and were terrified at leaving their father behind.
Images of the distressed teenager Mazen who described his journey “through hell” to get out of Gaza safely made international headlines.
“We had to leave our father behind,” he said at the time. “He is still trapped, and I have to be the father now.”
However, today he said: “I stood in this very spot and cried for my father last November. Now I stand here waiting for him.
“We watched his plane flying overhead before we came into the arrivals. I can’t believe he’s coming home.”
While his mother Batoul said: “We are married 19 years and I have to be strong for my family.
“I am so happy he is here, but I am also filled with grief for the family we have left behind.”
The mother of four has been caring for the children in an apartment in west Dublin, since November and has settled her children into school.
She said her marriage is “strong” and that both she and Zak have “supported each other” during their separation.
“When I saw him, my heart was literally out of its place, it is an indescribable feeling, the dream is coming true, I have to ask myself, am I dreaming? We are full of emotion.
“I can’t describe my feelings, because it is a combination of joy and happiness and at the same time, grief, for everyone that is left behind. My happiness is incomplete.
“We are still thinking about all those left there. My parents are now in Egypt, but everybody is still there, my sisters, my cousins, Zak’s sisters, our cousins.
“Between Zak and me we have lost 40 people. Imagine they are still under the rubble and their bodies would be destroyed now..
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