'I plead with Ireland to stand firm with us': An open letter from a mother in Gaza
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Dear people of Ireland, I write this from the hell that is Gaza right now.
I am a 38-year-old Palestinian humanitarian worker and a mother of seven who has spent my entire life living here in Gaza, my beloved homeland. This past May I lost my beloved husband, Abed, in an Israeli bombing.
I want to share with you what life has been like for Palestinians like me since the onset of the catastrophic attack on Gaza in October 2023, a brutal war which has claimed 45,000 lives, left over 100,000 people seriously injured, made nearly 2m homeless, and orphaned thousands of children.
I write this letter from our temporary shelter in a camp in southern Gaza. Winter in Gaza has always been harsh, but this year, living in a flimsy tent has turned it into an ordeal we never imagined.
The cold cuts through everything, settling deep into our bones, while relentless rain soaks our fragile shelter, turning the ground into mud. No matter how tightly I wrap my children in blankets, they shiver through the nights.
We have no heating, and power cuts leave us in darkness for hours at a time. A charged phone — a crucial link to the outside world — is often a luxury we cannot manage, leaving us feeling even more isolated.
Even getting enough power to type this letter and to transmit it is a struggle.
Hunger is constant.
Food is scarce, and cooking in these conditions is a daunting challenge. Bread, once a symbol of sustenance, is now a potential health hazard, often made from spoiled flour infested with weevils and worms.
The lack of sanitation and basic medications makes every illness dangerous.
A simple cough can escalate into a life-threatening condition because malnutrition and months of deprivation have left our immune systems and bodies so fragile.
What I fear most is for my children, who have endured unimaginable suffering over the last 14 months.
Their innocence and youth have been replaced by trauma and exhaustion.
What did my kids do to deserve this? Why does the world think their lives don’t matter?
This is a season when people worldwide, including in Ireland, celebrate Christmas — a time of peace, joy, and goodwill. Christmas always reminds the world of the message of peace that Jesus conveyed to whole world.
This Christmas is being witnessed under the failure of the world’s leaders to reach a ceasefire and achieve lasting peace for Palestinians.
This Christmas, a time when the world should reflect on peace and compassion, we feel abandoned by global powers who could end this human catastrophe but instead allow it to continue.
Over 2m people in Gaza are living in terror, hunger, and despair every day.
This is also our first Christmas without my husband, Abed.
Since then, our lives have been consumed by grief and a daily battle for survival.
Before the war, I was a proud and strong woman. I worked as a programme officer with an NGO, Al-Aqsa Sports Club, which partnered with ActionAid to provide safe spaces for children to play and explore their creativity through arts and crafts.
Abed and I shared the dreams of couples everywhere: We worked hard, saved for 15 years, and finally bought a home in Al Zahraa City. We dreamed of raising our family in peace.
But everything changed after October 7, 2023, and the Israeli response to the attack by Hamas.
Days after the bombings began, we were forced to flee our home and seek refuge in an UNRWA shelter in a school in Nuseirat. On May 14, in the dead of night, the Israeli Defence Forces shelled the shelter. The room where my husband and brother slept was engulfed in flames. They were gone in an instant.
I will never forget the sight of my children running towards the fire, screaming and pleading for a miracle.
Their cries still echo in my mind. That night shattered our family, leaving us to navigate an unimaginable new reality.
Now my children struggle to find the energy to study. They sit on freezing ground, trying to read by candlelight. Finding a dry spot to sleep is a daily challenge. Their youthful vitality has been replaced by lethargy and sorrow.
Despite everything, the people of Gaza continue to show resilience. We do our best to survive, but resilience alone is not enough. We need meaningful action from the international community.
Humanitarian aid, while essential, cannot solve this crisis. The root causes — blockades, violence, and political oppression — must be addressed to ensure a future where basic human rights, like access to food and safety, are upheld.
This Christmas, I plead with the world to not remain silent in the face of our suffering.
I plead with Ireland to stand firm in its support of international law, justice, and peace.
You have been a voice for these things, don’t let anything change that.
We dream of the day when our tent will be replaced by a home, when the cold will no longer haunt us, and when Gaza’s children can once again play without fear.
In the midst of this darkness, our hope endures.
It is the belief that, even in our bleakest moments, a better future is possible. My family and I find strength in each other, and we remind ourselves daily that this hardship is temporary.
May the spirit of peace and goodwill that Christmas embodies inspire the world to act for Gaza, so that no more families have to endure this suffering.
With love from Gaza.