A Mayo student trapped in Gaza has said that he is hoping to escape the warzone safely and return to Ireland as soon as possible.
Saeed Adli Sadeq, 21, whose family home is in Bohola near Swinford, said that due to fuel shortages in besieged Gaza, he could be forced to travel by horse to the Rafah crossing to Egypt when it eventually opens to Irish citizens.
Saeed, who is studying computer science in Gaza City, praised the Department of Foreign Affairs on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, saying they have not stopped communicating since day one.
However, they have no information about when Irish citizens will be able to leave Gaza.
Saeed said that he is nervous about waiting to leave because the Rafah crossing was closed for so long before it opened to foreign nationals.
“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 said.
Once he makes it to Egypt, Saeed said that Irish officials will meet him at the border.
“I have been told that officers from the Irish Embassy in Cairo will be waiting for us at the Egyptian side of the border,” he said.
“I think the plan will be to get us safely out from Gaza and then we deal with the rest ourselves.”
Once home in Ireland, he said that he will travel home to Mayo on the 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. I need a therapist to be honest from what I have seen here in Gaza.
“So I will go back to Ireland hopefully soon to my family and just to relax from what I have seen here.”
Speaking about Israel’s war on Gaza, he said that there are air strikes everywhere, including one just five-hundred meters away from his house.
“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.”
Israel has killed almost 10,000 Palestinians in Gaza since October 7.
