'Most of my Gazan friends and colleagues don't hate the Israelis... They want to be able to get on with their lives in Gaza'
Bridget Forster at home in Cork City with Lady Marmalade, the cat she rescued from Gaza. Pictures: Larry Cummins
Even after a night spent awake in terror as missiles fall like rain outside their windows, mums in Gaza can still be seen hanging out baby clothes.
Such an everyday event might not deeply resonate with Bridget Forster in her home country. However, the former planning and co-ordination lead in the UN’s Department of Safety and Security knows washing on a line means so much more in Gaza.
It represents both pride and unbreakable resilience.
The image is one that remains etched in the mind of the former UN explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) operator.
Having returned this month from an 18-month stint with the UN in Gaza and other occupied Palestinian territories, Ms Foster, who originally hails from Cardiff in Wales and now lives in Cork City, is urging people not to forget the plight of the Palestinian people.
“From October 2018 to July 2022, I managed the United Nations Mine Action Service programmes for removing unexploded bombs,” she told the .
“I was the UN's EOD operator in Gaza during that period. There was an 11-day war in 2021 and what struck me most after a sleepless night of explosions was the people cleaning the streets and the mums hanging out baby clothes and leaving them out to dry in the sun. This time was no different.
The former soldier and lawyer was only allowed entry into Gaza with items intended for “her own personal use".
“Many of my colleagues have children, some of whom are still only babies. I tried to bring in baby formula for them but it was confiscated. I also had cat food for the cats in Gaza that we were trying to keep alive. This was also confiscated.
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"I still struggle to understand how baby formula is going to help Hamas in its war against Israel.
"I managed to get chocolate in because you are allowed a certain amount for personal use. I had 40 big bars to give to the kids. I told them I had 40 bars because I like chocolate. They seemed to believe me when I said that I had one chocolate bar for every day I was going to be in Gaza. It was a win for the children but not for the babies.”
Ms Forster described some of the decisions made by the IDF as baffling.
“The narrative is that we're effectively there to keep Hamas in Gaza and therefore we are not to be trusted. There were moments, like when the IDF soldier took the cat food from me, that were quite baffling.
"He had this grimaced expression that told me even he didn’t see the point of it. Some of the Israeli regiments are very settler-based and so were renowned for being very difficult. Then there were the others who were less so.
"When I've been in negotiations about security incidents, I get the feeling that the people I’m talking to don’t want humanitarians to be killed. I’m not quite sure whether this is down to empathy or the fact that it looks bad in the papers, but I didn’t see a huge amount of empathy.”
Ms Forster explained Israelis were often being fed lies about the situation in Gaza.
“There are some very young people being put in situations and being fed a false narrative by politicians. There is no international press in Gaza.
"You'll see the IDF statements stating that there has been more than the UN allocation of calories per person going into Gaza. What’s not taken into account is that some of it gets lost or stolen and there are some parts of Gaza that humanitarians can’t get to because Israelis won’t allow them access.
"There are still people who are suffering who have to wait for trucks to deliver water and queue for bread and meals. There are marketplaces but the prices are high and Israel has limited the amount of cash that can circulate in Gaza.
"Right now, there is still a huge impossibility for any form of a normal life in Gaza. Until people can safely go to sleep without wondering whether or not a bomb is going to hit them, there is never going to be any normality or healing for Gaza.”
Bridget’s lowest point came when her colleague, Bulgarian native Marin Valev Marinov, was killed in March 2025. The 51-year-old died instantly when an Israeli tank shell hit a UN guesthouse in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza.
“There have been some incidents where, for whatever reason, the troops on the ground haven't been notified of the movement. The worst came in March 19, 2025, when my colleague Marin was killed and others were injured.
"Humanitarians are killed pretty much every day but Marin and I were very close. We made sure that everyone got to hospital. There were some with life-changing injuries. I accompanied Marin's body to the morgue to ensure he was safely managed and not lost.”
It is the strength of the Palestinian people that inspired Ms Forster to keep going.
“Pretty much every single Palestinian that I've met has been warm and full of joy and generosity. They love sharing and laughing. I loved my time in Palestine even though some of it was tinged with massive amounts of sadness.
"Most of my Gazan friends and colleagues don't hate the Israelis. They hate what is going on and they may well hate some of the soldiers and politicians but they are not sitting there plotting the end of Israel like many Israelis believe.
"Their focus is on their children and hoping for peace. They want to be able to get on with their lives in Gaza.”
Ms Forster is calling for more support for humanitarians in Gaza.
“Everyone is in emergency mode and that's why it's so difficult. When I talk about how difficult it is for humanitarians, I am not underestimating the true horror of being a Gazan who has no way of getting out. They have none of the protections that the international community has.
"It’s been more than two-and-a-half years of that emergency mode now with no let-up. It’s just not sustainable. My Gazan colleagues are just about functioning and I really don’t know how.
"Yes, we are all in this emergency mode, but that emergency mode generally is only supposed to be a short-term thing for human beings and animals. Now, places like Sudan and Yemen, where there has been conflict going on for protracted periods of time are also functioning.
“Meanwhile, all the humanitarians, who are supposed to be functioning at a higher level, are being pushed beyond what is normal for a human being. This is despite the fact that they are meant to be helping other people.
"If we’re not functioning well and making good decisions, we tend to cut ourselves off from humanity. Sometimes the easiest thing to do is to go into robot mode.
"The risk of losing the human element of our decision-making is difficult. It might be the case that you have to choose food for the kids over the adults. This is not a decision anyone wants to make. If you keep having to do that you lose your humanity.
"Humanitarians are, at their core, supposed to be human. We’re supposed to have empathy but sometimes that’s just too painful.”
Bridget is grateful for the friendships she made in Palestine.
“I ended up taking home one of the cats I found in Gaza. As soon as I came across him he wouldn’t leave my side. His name is Lady Marmalade. I initially thought he was female but later learned he was a castrated male. The name had already stuck at that stage but I always stress that he’s a 'he/him'.”
The future looks bright for the former lawyer.
“Since leaving the United Nations I’ve been working as a consultant on various topics, but I’m mainly advising organisations on how to manage workplace stress, particularly for leaders who are in difficult circumstances.
"I also co-host a podcast called and will be resuming that in October.”
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