An Irish-Palestinian man reunited with his family having finally managed to flee Gaza has expressed his relief at surviving the war.
Zak Hania arrived in Ireland on a flight from Cairo on Saturday, having made it out of Gaza via the Rafah crossing into Egypt.
He has since been adjusting to life back in Dublin with his family.
His wife, Batoul, and their four sons, were able to leave Gaza via the Rafah border last November but his exit was blocked and he was left behind in the besieged territory.
Mr Hania described the last seven months in Gaza as a form of dream.
“I’m delighted and happy to see my family and my lovely and kind friends,” he told the PA news agency.
“I’m glad that I survived this brutal genocide. It’s like a dream to survive and to live all the seven months, the last seven months, and to survive. But my feelings are like strange, I feel in a strange way.
“I feel the family are excited. I am happy, but not excited, it’s like my feelings are frozen.
“But I am glad that I survived and I am happy to come to Ireland and to see my family and reunite with them and to see all my friends that all stood with me on this journey and this difficult time.”
Ms Hania and her four Irish-born sons, Mazen, Ismael, Ahmed and Nour, spent months campaigning to secure her husband’s safe passage out of Gaza. That included lobbying Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) for help.
There were emotional scenes at Dublin Airport on Saturday when the family was reunited.
Mr Hania embraced his wife and children as he emerged from the arrivals hall.
He later dropped to his knees and kissed the ground.
“I really want to thank all people in Ireland, the great Irish people who are standing with Palestine and with Gaza and all the people who stood with me in these difficult times,” said Mr Hania.
“I’m really grateful and I can’t thank them enough.”
