I want to thank the Deputy for his question regarding the Palestinian family member of an Irish citizen who has been granted a visa to travel to Ireland but who has not yet been able to exit Gaza in order to do so. I want to assure the Deputy that my Department is aware of this case and has been providing assistance to the family since late last year. I want to recognise that this is an extremely challenging and distressing situation for this family.
Since the onset of this crisis, my Department has worked with the relevant authorities to facilitate the exit from Gaza of Irish citizens and dependants that have expressed a wish to leave.
Clearance to exit Gaza has been subject to the approval of the relevant local authorities. This process has involved our Embassies in Tel Aviv and Cairo submitting the names of those Irish citizens and dependants who wished to leave Gaza to the relevant authorities. These lists have updated and resubmitted on an ongoing basis. Once clearance is received, our Embassy in Cairo liaise with the Egyptian authorities to receive Irish citizens and dependants on the Egyptian side, and to support their onward journey to Ireland. To date, we have assisted over 100 individuals to exit Gaza.
Some Irish citizens and dependants, including the individual concerned, have received clearance to exit Gaza, but, due to the situation on the ground have not been able to exit. The Israeli military operation in Rafah, which began in May, has resulted in the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt being closed. Since its closure, departure of civilians from Gaza has not been possible. It is now almost five months since any civilians have been allowed to depart.
I wish to assure you that officials in the Department of Foreign Affairs, through our Embassies in the region, continue to advocate consistently with the local authorities to enable all Irish citizens and dependents remaining in Gaza who wish to depart, to do so. I confirm that this includes this individual.
Members of the Government undertook intensive engagements at the UN in New York last week. The urgent need to address the conflict in the Middle East is a priority, including efforts to advance the two-State solution, achieve a ceasefire and hostage release deal, and to ensure the supply of humanitarian assistance at scale in Gaza.
