Mayo student among those trapped in Gaza
Mayo student Saeed Adli Sadeq said he is prepared to travel by horse to reach the border and escape the war in Gaza.
A Mayo man trapped in Gaza has said he is prepared to travel by horse to get across the border to safety.
Saeed Adli Sadeq, aged 21, from Bohola, was studying computer science in Gaza City when the conflict broke out.
He told RTÉ Radio’s that he is waiting for confirmation from the Department of Foreign Affairs that Irish citizens can cross the border before he leaves Khan Yunis where he moved recently.
“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.”
Mr Sadeq, who is the son of writer and former Palestinian diplomat Adli Sadeq, said he is nervous about waiting because Khan Yunis has been targeted by Israeli airstrikes. He revealed he had lost a family member in Gaza following an airstrike.
“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.”
Mr Sadeq plans to travel home to Mayo by bus from Dublin Airport. He said he will need therapy after some of the atrocities he has witnessed in Gaza.
“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. Of course, I can't wait to see my family back in County Mayo. I'll just take the bus from Dublin Airport, bus number 22, which is eight minutes away from our house in Bohola.”
