EXIT VISAS GRANTED:THE IRISH embassy in Tel Aviv is trying to secure the safe departure from Gaza of a Palestinian mother and her four children, one of whom has Irish citizenship.
Suha Nateel and her three daughters - Maha (10), Maria (8) and Milad (3), and son Basil (5), returned to live in Gaza for family reasons in 2007. Basil was born in Ireland and is the only member of the family with Irish citizenship.
Ms Nateel's London-based husband Ibrahim has been pressing for his family to be allowed to leave Gaza since Israeli forces began their bombardment of the territory on December 27th.
The family lives in the Magazi area of the Gaza Strip.
"They escaped death on the first day of the Israeli attack," Mr Nateel, who is from Gaza, told The Irish Times."They were on their way to the market and were only a few metres away from where the Israelis started bombing. They were very lucky." Since then, he says, the four children have been deeply traumatised over being caught in the middle of Israel's military assault, which has so far resulted in the deaths of 682 people.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said exit visas had been arranged for the entire family and their departure from Gaza would be facilitated as soon as possible.
"I appreciate their efforts and humanitarian assistance," Mr Nateel said. "They are doing their best to co-ordinate with the Israelis and the Red Cross to arrange safe passage for my wife and children. Hopefully they will be able to leave soon."