‘They are very weak, they're thin, their minds have stopped': Stranded fathers' anguish over children in Gaza
Gaza
's northern tip, but it may as well be the other side of the world.
In the hot
Palestinian
oasis city of Jericho, he fields constant calls from his three hungry children in the Palestinian enclave.
'Imagine as a father receiving this call,' he says, pain visible on his face. 'For two years our daughters received no kind of education. They are very weak, they're thin, their minds stopped ... They can't think due to malnutrition,' Ahmed continues.
'Two million people are sleeping starving [in Gaza]. You cannot find sugary beverages or coffee, even the water is polluted. There are a number of people sleeping in the streets, even tents are not available. You can't use the toilet because the places are too crowded.'
The 33-year-old was one of three Gazan labourers who met The Irish Times in Jericho, where they have been stuck for nearly two years.
They spoke in the office of the Palestinian Agricultural Development Association (Parc), where they receive some support, and asked that only their first names be published for safety reasons. They agreed to the interview because they wanted to highlight the conditions their families are experiencing in Gaza.
When the Hamas-led attacks happened on October 7th, 2023, there were thought to be thousands of Gazan labourers inside
Israel
. Their permits were cancelled, and while thousands were arrested and sent back to Gaza – some of whom alleged they were tortured – others say they were forced to go to the occupied West Bank and locked out of Gaza completely.
Hundreds ended up in Jericho, where they have waited nearly 22 months as the suffering back home mounts. Some live in a remote shelter on a Palestinian security forces training base, while others rent rooms or stay with relatives. Abed (33) – who has two sons and a daughter in Gaza – lives in a refugee camp.
'If I get the chance I'd go back to Gaza and stay there,' says Ismail (30).
Ahmed – whose wife and three children are in Gaza – said the men could be arrested at a checkpoint for even trying to leave Jericho and locked up in an Israeli prison for an indefinite period. Yet staying in Jericho is a form of torture for him too.
His two daughters – aged eight and 10 – were injured by shrapnel during the war. All of the three men's homes were destroyed and their families live in tents with 'high temperatures, insects everywhere, no clean water', Ahmed says. He points at a tissue packet in front of him: 'for example, this tissue is not available in Gaza.'
Contact can be difficult. 'Some periods the whole region is blacked out from communication and sometimes you have to try many times,' he says.
The men send money, but transfer fees can be up to 50 per cent. Prices for food and other supplies have skyrocketed – that is if they are even available. Farming work in Jericho is seasonal, in an area where temperatures topped 40 degrees this month. When there is employment, the men earn about 100 shekels (€26) a day.
'My daughter is daily on a group call asking when am I coming back, blaming me,' says Ahmed. '[My children] think I ran away. I say 'inshallah' [God willing]. I explained [what happened] many times and they still just blame me. They are frustrated, they are children. I explain that I'm trying to protect them, provide them with food, with money. I just try to stop my feelings from exploding.'
Some Gazans in Jericho have learned about the deaths of close family members remotely. As the death toll in the enclave approaches 60,000, according to Gazan authorities, emergency appeals are being issued. This week, more than 100 aid organisations said supplies are 'totally depleted', while the head of the World Health Organisation, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, called this a man-made mass starvation.
Ismail calls the current US and Israel-backed aid distribution system a 'death trap'. According to the UN, more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since May while trying to access
food
.
A Palestinian man on Wednesday inspects the damage around a house hit in an Israeli strike a day earlier in western Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip. Photograph: Omar Al-Qatta/AFP via Getty Images
'The Israelis target everyone, this is a genocide,' says Ahmed, who called for countries to boycott Israeli goods and 'support the Palestinians in their global efforts and inside the UN'.
Israel has denied accusations of genocide, for which it is facing a case at the
International Court of Justice
.
Hearing about Ireland's proposed
Occupied Territories Bill
, Ahmed says he supports it as 'if you harm their economy they will review their policies'.
Ismail also says he would like to see it introduced because 'I want to feel there's someone with us'.
Ahmed's favourite memories of Gaza, from before 2023, involved the 'simple life', the sea and family gatherings. Now, many of the places he spent three decades in have been ruined.
'There's no future, the whole of Gaza is destroyed, where is the future?' he asks. 'Israeli policies are meant to displace the people. I hope I can get back but If I have any opportunity [to go abroad] I'd go.'
He said he hopes a ceasefire will happen 'to meet basic needs: food, shelter, water. Then we can think about how to reconstruct our homes, streets. Even if the war continues, allow aid in.'
'To the international community as a whole: it's good if you can do anything to protect the Palestinian people,' adds Ismail, calling again for humanitarian aid to be sent to Gaza immediately. 'The images coming out of Gaza of dead children show what is happening.'
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Irish Times
3 hours ago
- Irish Times
Letters to the Editor, July 28th: On Gaza and religion, the cost of sexual abuse redress, and Galway traffic
Sir, – As a Christian, I was brought up to have a deep respect for the religions of others, including the Jewish religion – which forms a significant part of my cultural inheritance. Seeing the photograph of a hunger-ravaged 1½-year-old boy in Gaza city on the front page of The Irish Times (July 23rd) and the photograph of a crowd of emaciated, starving, terrified, crying children holding up pots and basins and begging for food in Khan Yunis (World News, July 24th) forced me to immediately look up what the Jewish religion has to say about the moral requirement to provide food to those who are hungry; what I found confirmed what I already knew: 'If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat. If your enemy is thirsty, give him water to drink' (Proverbs 25:1). 'Give sustenance to the poor of the non-Jews along with the poor of Israel' (Gittin 61a). READ MORE 'While eating and drinking, one must feed the foreigner, the orphan, the widow, and other poor unfortunates' (Mishneh Torah, 6:18). Criticisms of the actions of Israel in Gaza are commonly branded as anti-Semitic by the Israeli authorities and those who support Israel, but is not the enforced starvation of the population of Gaza – including children, babies and pregnant women – not only a heinous crime against our common humanity, but also an action that is utterly forbidden by the Jewish religion. Jewish people and their religious leaders who are sickened by this need to raise their voices in protest. – Yours, etc, CHRIS FITZPATRICK, Terenure, Dublin 6. Sir, – While we are aware that there is a level of censorship within Israel which seems to have justified, perhaps hidden, and manipulated the reality of Gaza, the truth remains that Jewish people, in particular the diaspora in other countries around the world, are not unaware of the starvation, the degradation, and annihilation of the people of Gaza. In consideration of their own horrific past, where are the voices of the decent Jewish people around the world, particularly in America, who must stand up and be counted, to say enough is enough, and not in our name? Your strong voices must be heard. Shout your disgust. You know and witness with your own eyes. To use a famous quote: 'The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.' – Yours, etc, ANGELA CURRIE, Belfast, Northern Ireland. Sir, – While the perpetration of genocide by the Israeli government on Palestinians in Gaza is monstrous, other countries are complicit by their actions, and others by their inactions. It is horrifying that the US supports Israel with arms to bomb and shoot civilians, backs the 'Gaza Humanitarian Foundation', which fails, intentionally or unintentionally, to distribute enough water and food for life, and also seems to have given up on international law, humanitarian norms and the UN. However, it is Germany's actions that shock me the most. Just as post-Famine Ireland understands starvation, post-Holocaust Germany understands genocide, and its policy is supposed to be 'Never Again'. Yet, unbelievably, Germany is a significant arms supplier to Israel, and consistently refuses to back EU sanctions against that rogue state. Wann wird man je verstehen? – Yours, etc, CLAIRE WHEELER, Oaklands Park, Dublin 4. Womb with no view Sir, – The Irish Times has listed the 21 top earners among Irish chief executive officers. All men. (' Irish CEO pay soars as flight by our top plcs to Wall Street delivers the dollars ,' July 25th). Obviously no womb at the top. – Yours, etc, GEMMA McCROHAN, Ballinteer, Dublin 16. Deferring alcohol health warnings Sir, – The Government delaying until 2029 the placing of health warnings on alcoholic drinks is a shameful disgrace proving beyond any shadow of doubt the bias of this Government. In this case it shows a leaning more towards the profiteers than towards the general good of the Irish people. During the delay there will certainly be more new alcohol-related illnesses, tragedies, addictions and deaths. Some of these will be due directly to the labelling delay by the Government. When this happens, the Government must be accountable, and take a degree of responsibility and blame. – Yours, etc, ALBERT KERR, Bray, Co Wicklow. HSE and losing millions of euros Sir, – Martin Wall's report on the tens of millions of euro lost or written off by the HSE raises serious questions about accountability at management and board level ('Tens of millions in HSE money lost say auditors', July 26th). Surely the external auditors when faced with this level of losses would be likely to qualify the HSE's annual accounts? This in turn would have serious consequences for the HSE board, and senior management. Certainly, as a taxpayer it is difficult to understand why my taxes can be squandered without there being serious consequences for the decision makers. It is time for the Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, to take a stronger line with the HSE board. – Yours, etc, MIKE CORMACK, Blackrock, Co Dublin. Sir, – The article concerning losses incurred by the HSE makes for very uncomfortable and frustrating reading. This is the organisation which consistently exceeds its budget and looks for further expenditure while at the same time presides over a litany of massive and irresponsible waste. This can only be described as incompetence of the highest order. It remains an unfillable money pit. When is the Government and in particular the Minister for Health going to demand and obtain radical change? Those departments which are underfunded should be asking the same questions. – Yours, etc, JOHN BURNETT, Carrigaline, Cork. Addressing cost of redress scheme Sir, – Stephen Collins writes that 'senior civil servants who have raised concerns about the potentially enormous cost to the State of a redress scheme for victims of sexual abuse in schools have performed an important service' (' A redress scheme for school abuse survivors could become a barrister-fattening exercise ,' July 25th). That concern might carry weight – if the Government hadn't spent the past week discussing how it will spend a large budget surplus. Collins overlooks another crucial point: that many institutions have not honoured their indemnity agreements with the Government – efforts to enforce these agreements could generate significant revenue to support redress. During a recent debate with me in Seanad Éireann, Minister for Education Helen McEntee left me in no doubt that enforcing indemnity agreements was an option she favoured. As a long-time advocate for redress for victims of abuse, it's important to point out that redress comes in many forms; it's not all about money. I've seen too many people broken and traumatised by their experiences while in institutions, schools and 'care' settings. Time has passed for many seeking to tell their story and obtain redress – many are now dead. Figures stating a redress scheme 'costing tens of billions of euro' are suspect. Spending a small percentage of our surplus would help reckon with a dark period of our history and the monies would go back into communities nationwide. While we cannot change the past, we can do the right thing in the present . – Yours, etc, SENATOR VICTOR BOYHAN, Leinster House, Dublin 2 . Galway traffic conundrum Sir, – I live in Galway, a city clogged and wheezing almost terminally, due to car traffic. Anthony Moran (Letters, June 24th) describes the city as it is, and will be, unless Murt Coleman's (Letters, July 23rd) ideas are taken on board and implemented. The traffic problem affects the city, county and region on a daily basis from accessing work and hospital appointments to getting to shops, businesses and schools. There are too many resulting negatives to list but one is that attracting people to the area is getting more and more difficult because of traffic and housing. Everybody, including politicians and officials, knows this because traffic affects everybody and everybody complains about it. Mr Moran may be right about the eventual fate of the Galway outer bypass but as to the 'deluded fantasy' of Light Rail – when Stephen Hawking wondered how Albert Einstein came up with such formidable scientific theories, one of the reasons he offered was that Einstein was 'undaunted by common sense'. And 'common sense' isn't cutting it here either; our city needs ambition and imagination and the ability to change for the better. Light Rail is a project that will serve the Galway area and region for the next 100 years or more, but we must begin the project now. – Yours, etc, SEAMUS McMANUS, Tuam Road, Galway. Abortion debate Sir, – Repeal offers safety to women, according to Brian Kennedy (Letters, July 23rd). What about safety for the baby? The safest place for any baby should be its mother's womb. – Yours, etc, MARIAN WHITE, Stillorgan, Co Dublin. Some jobs for the boys Sir, – Before any contract is signed or a single cent is spent (on the National Development Plan), may I suggest that Micheál Martin, Simon Harris, Paschal Donohoe and Jack Chambers take a flight aboard the government jet. Their first stop should be the southern end of Lough Derg, to view the Parteen Weir and Ardnacrusha. Built as part of the Shannon hydro-electric scheme, Ardnacrusha cost £5 million, almost one-fifth of the State's annual budget at the time. It became a symbol of bold, forward-thinking infrastructure. Next, they might fly offshore to view the Fastnet Rock lighthouse. Constructed over 120 years ago from more than 2,000 dovetailed granite blocks, it was completed for £90,000 and remains a triumph of engineering and endurance. On the return leg, they should fly over the Derrybrien wind farm, soon to be dismantled at great cost both financially and to the environment. Before landing they should get an aerial view of the still-unfinished National Children's Hospital. A project years behind schedule, many times over budget and built in a congested location. Perhaps after this aerial tour, they will reflect on the contrast: once, Ireland built transformative national infrastructure with limited resources. Today with abundant resources we seem unable to deliver major projects on time or within budget. Any government can spend money. It only deserves credit however when it ensures projects are delivered on time, on budget, and are built to provide facilities that will be beneficial to all for years to come. – Yours, etc, NOEL SHANAGHY, Co Waterford. Sir, – Apparently, €45 million has been allocated by the National Transport Authority for 6km of cycle lane from Dundrum to Dún Laoghaire, without a cost/benefit analysis. Is this the most expensive cycle lane ever built in Ireland? – Yours, etc, OLGA BARRY, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin. Not in for the long haul Sir, – In your article on Aer Lingus customer service (July 21st), one traveller noted that, as bad as the airline's customer service is, the warmth and professionalism of check-in desk staff has always encouraged him to choose the airline when travelling with young children. At the time of reading, I entirely agreed and would add that the care shown by cabin crew staff on transatlantic flights, in particular, is why I've been making the same choice for my family for the past seven years and for myself for much longer. But a flight from Dublin to Cleveland last week demonstrated that the airline's strategy to expand services to more US cities is damaging this reputation of a warm Irish welcome. Our recent experience of flying with Aer Lingus included a flight that was overbooked, an hour-long wait at check-in, and a frazzled clerk who initially failed to check in our five-year-old son and then assigned him to a seat on his own. The aircraft flying to certain US destinations – Cleveland, Indianapolis, perhaps others – are just not fit for long-haul travel. For seven hours, we shared cramped rows, a single, narrow aisle, and toilets only at the back of the aircraft with about 170 economy passengers. With this set-up, it took an age for the four cabin crew to navigate the aisle, fire meals, drinks, etc, at passengers, and I don't know where or if they took breaks. Their welcome was noticeably, and understandably, more tepid than usual. Dublin Airport might also want to have a word with its flagship airline. After the chaos of check-in, the rest of our journey through security and US preclearance was mercifully efficient, fast and pleasant. But this was lost on the American tourists seated near us who I overheard saying: 'Aer Lingus is trash. That is one of the most disorganised airports I've ever been in.' Maybe it's time for Aer Lingus to reassess and rein in some of its transatlantic ambitions. – Yours, etc, GRÁINNE McEVOY, South Bend, Indiana. Ireland's housing crisis Sir, – I totally agree with Michael Gilmartin's letter (July 26th) in saying that it is an impossibility to fix the housing crisis with a growing population and migration. Even to build the required housing units means we have to bring more workers here to build them. As he says, the constant obsession with jobs and economic growth cannot continue with finite resources; sooner or later a government is going to have to accept this. Unfortunately, it's hard to foresee a party brave enough to make this stand in an election, especially seeing the drubbing that the usual whipping boys, the Green Party, receive. – Yours, etc, ENDA SCANLON, Ennis, Co Clare.
The Irish Sun
5 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Donald Trump insists Gaza is not just ‘US problem' as Sir Keir Starmer prepares to push him to end war
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Irish Times
10 hours ago
- Irish Times
Coalition warned against diluting contentious Occupied Territories Bill
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