A Belfast-born Palestinian man has spoken of his relief after his two young children have safely crossed the Rafah border from Gaza into Egypt.
Ali (4) and Sara (1) both recently lost their mother Ashwak Jendia after she was seriously injured in an explosion.
Their father Khalid El-Estal (30), who is an Irish Citizen, has been waiting anxiously this week for the news they would be able to cross.
Initially they had been expected to cross on Thursday but administrative delays held things up until Friday.
Khalid’s brother-in-law Mohammed Jendia is accompanying the children and will now travel to Ireland with them where they can finally be reunited with their father.
By Friday afternoon, Khalid confirmed his children had passed through customs and where making their way to Cairo with the help of the Irish embassy.
“Of course it’s a relief. I haven’t managed to speak to them yet as there’s no internet in Gaza at all, so it’s only the pictures that have been sent to me.
“I will keep hoping now.”
Read more
- 'She was my life. I don't know how to face my children now' - Belfast-born Palestinian makes appeal after wife is killed in Gaza
- Emily Hand: No stone unturned in effort to re-unite with family kidnapped Irish girl held in Gaza, says Tanaiste
Ali and Sara had also been injured in the explosion that ultimately claimed their mother’s life, but they were thankfully able to recover their health while sheltering in a hospital in the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis.
Khalid had been working to support his family in Saudi Arabia at the time of the October 7 attacks from Hamas which claimed around 1,400 lives in southern Israel.
Forced to watch as the region descended into chaos from afar, he is currently in Naas, Co Kildare, and hopes to settle with his children in Northern Ireland.
Speaking earlier to RTE, Khalid also revealed that his young son Ali has yet to learn of his mother’s death.
"I was talking yesterday morning with my child, and he doesn't know anything about what's happening. He doesn't know even that his mother was killed. They didn't tell them. I don't know how I will face him,” he said.
"I didn't sleep over the last days. It was a very difficult day for me. A whole month with worrying and thinking all the time about everyone, about everything. But I need them now. That's the only thing I want."
The Irish Department of Foreign Affairs has said that a number of other Irish citizens and their families are also in the process of crossing from Gaza into Egypt.
On Wednesday, a total of 26 Irish citizens and their dependents were able to cross from Gaza into Egypt and are currently being supported by Irish embassy staff.
RTE report that another Irish-Palestinian man, Aymen Shaheen, who escaped Gaza with his children – aged 19 and 12 - confirmed that his 80-year-old mother Thoria also made it over the Rafah crossing.
"She is with the staff of the Irish Embassy at the Egyptian side" of the Rafah crossing, he said.
"We feel that we start our life again. We were in the grave and we just left the grave and we restart our life.
"It is the unbelievable feeling that you will start your life because we escape from such nightmare.”
Meanwhile, the Tánaiste Micheál Martin has said he is hopeful that more Irish citizens will be able to cross over into Egypt on Friday, with all of those in a position to travel to be out of Gaza by Sunday.
