EGYPT:Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern has said his department will "do everything possible" to resolve the situation of a Galway woman who is trying to leave Gaza through the Egyptian border. Lorna Siggins, Western Correspondent, reports.
However, Mr Ahern also said Galway resident Treasa Ní Cheannabháin (56) bore a "personal responsibility" for her plight.
Ms Ní Cheannabháin, from Barna, her daughter, Naisrin Elsafty (19), who is a medical student, and Ms Ní Cheannabháin's Egyptian niece, Seham Elhotty (26), were refused exit from Gaza back into Egypt earlier this week after they undertook a relief mission on behalf of their charity.
However, last night the Egyptian authorities allowed Ms Elsafty and her cousin through at the Rafah border crossing, as Ms Elsafty has Egyptian identification and her cousin has an Egyptian passport.
Speaking to The Irish Times, Ms Ní Cheannabháin described "chaos" at the border and said she was alone with several Danish and English people who were also told they could not leave Gaza by the Egyptian authorities. "I've very little Arabic, and I'm being held on the Egyptian side. I am reluctant to return now to Gaza as I have no idea when I will be able to leave," she said.
Mr Ahern said yesterday that his department had "explicitly warned against travelling to Gaza", and this travel advice had been updated regularly.
"Individuals such as Ms Treasa Ní Cheannabháin-Elsafty and her daughter, Naisrin Elsafty, who decide to enter Gaza against our strong advice must accept personal responsibility for the consequences of their actions."
"Notwithstanding that, we will continue to do everything possible to resolve the situation," Mr Ahern said. The Irish Embassy in Cairo had made "very strong representations to the Egyptian authorities to facilitate safe passage", he said, and the Irish Ambassador in Tel Aviv had also made representations.
Earlier this week, an Israel air strike on a Hamas security compound killed seven men, while two other members of Hamas were shot dead by Israel soldiers near the Egyptian border.
Ms Ní Cheannabháin, who is married to an Egyptian doctor, travelled into the Palestinian territory late last week, after she and her relatives were refused entry by the Egyptian authorities.
The women were carrying more than €7,000, collected by the Galway-Palestinian children's fund for relief in Gaza.