‘You don’t have water, food, nothing – and suddenly you go out, you have everything’ – Ibrahim Alagha on returning to Ireland from Gaza
Irish-Palestinian man Ibrahim Alagha has spoken about the heartbreaking moment his son was given water for the first time since the family made their way out of Gaza.
Mr Alagha, from Blanchardstown, shared updates of daily life as the family were trapped for 40 days under Israeli bombardment was speaking in an interview with Virgin Media Television at home with his wife Hamida, and their three young children Sami, Omar and Eileen.
He thanked the Irish public for their support and for lobbying politicians to get Irish citizens out of Gaza. Mr Alagha tearfully recalled the moment his family finally passed through the Rafah Crossing into Egypt, where they were met by an Irish diplomat who gave them food and water after rationing food and water for weeks.
Mr Alagha said: “There was this moment that touched my heart… I gave my son water to drink. He drank it and he asked me ‘am I allowed to drink more?’ because there were rules in the house, he was not allowed to drink more than a small bit. He asked me could he drink more, I said ‘of course, drink as much as you want’. That moment. Oh my god.”
