A Palestinian woman who has been campaigning to get her mother out of Gaza and to safety from Israel's bombardment for the last 17 months has been reunited with her in Ireland.
Sherin Alsabbagh began her campaign to get her 74-year-old mother Najwa Alsabbagh to safety in December 2023.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Drivetime, Ms Alsabbagh said it was "magic" to have her mother with her in Ireland.
"I'm so happy that my mother has finally arrived here, I still can't believe it."
"I’m actually hugging and kissing my mother.
"That was the moment I was waiting for ... I started the campaign of trying to get my mother out in December 2023, and now she's here. It's really magic, it's really great," she added.
Ms Alsabbagh said her mother had mixed feelings upon her arrival in Ireland.
"She's very tired. Very happy. She's very relieved that she’s here now. She feels safe after 17 or 18 months of being terrified," she said.
Ms Alsabbagh said that they had lost many family members since the war began, some of whom are still missing.
"She lost her two sisters and many nieces and nephews. Some of them are still under the rubble, like her sister," she said.
Ms Alsabbagh added that her brother and his four children remained in Gaza, and she was hopeful that they could get out too.
"I'd love if I could save my brother and his family because our happiness is incomplete.
"We know that my brother and his wife and his four kids are in danger ... There’s no safe place in Gaza," she said.
Ms Alsabbagh said that the care and treatment her mother received upon her arrival in Ireland "made her feel like a human being".
"My mother is so overwhelmed with the welcome that she got from Irish people.
"The solidarity, the love and support she saw from Irish people, either in the Irish embassy or the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs in either Tel Aviv or in Jordan or here in Ireland, made her feel like she's a human being," she said.
