An Irish citizen living in Gaza fears that tomorrow may be his family's last chance to leave the Palestinian territory before communication is cut off.
Ibrahim Alagha and his family, who are all Irish citizens, were in Gaza City for an extended holiday when Israel began its bombardment.
They have since become stranded in the conflict zone and have been waiting to exit Gaza through the Rafah crossing into Egypt. Last week, Mr Alagha said his family are facing an increasing shortage of food and water as they wait to make this list to pass through the crossing.
The list is published each day online between 2am and 5am.
This morning, Mr Alagha, who lives in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza, said they did not make it onto the list for today.
"Tomorrow is Wednesday. It could be potentially our last chance to exit Gaza ahead of the communication cut-off," he said.
"That will happen on Thursday.
"At that point, we will lose all connection and all communication with the Department of Foreign Affairs. I will not get any news about the border and hopefully someone can do anything before it gets too late."
In a statement yesterday, the Department of Foreign Affairs said that here are "many thousands of foreign and dual nationals and immediate dependants in Gaza who are seeking to leave".
It added that the departures are being managed country by country on a phased basis and that It will take some time for this process to be completed.
"The Rafah crossing has been closed for significant periods over the last week – it is positive that it has opened in the last two days," the statement continued.
"The names of all Irish citizens in Gaza who have asked to be included on the list of those wishing leave have been submitted to the relevant authorities."
The department said that Irish embassies in Cairo and Tel Aviv are in "constant communication with the authorities in Egypt and Israel to press for our citizens to be allowed to leave as soon as possible".
Last week, The Israeli Embassy to Ireland said that embassy officials, along with the Israeli Ministry for Foreign Affairs, were coordinating with the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs and the Irish Embassy in Israel on extracting Irish citizens.
Mr Alagha spoke as Israeli forces bombarded southern Gaza, while tanks advanced to the gates of the its biggest hospital in the north where health officials say dozens of patients, including babies, have died due a lack of power and the heavy fighting.
