The Irish child of a woman killed in Gaza is unable to understand his mother is dead.
Belfast-born Khalid El-Astal was working in Saudi Arabia on October 7th when Hamas launched its attack on southern Israel.
When the Israelis responded by declaring war on the organisation, Mr El-Astal immediately began working to evacuate his wife, Ashwak, and two children, Ali and Sara.
On November 1st, Mr El-Astal received a call informing him that his wife had been killed.
Afterwards, Ali and Sara were evacuated to Ireland but Mr El-Astal said their lives have been “very painful” ever since.
“They’re still asking about their mom,” Mr El-Astal told Newstalk.
“Ali can’t understand when I tell [them] that she’s dead.
“He’s four and I’ve told him many times that she’s dead and he doesn’t understand that.
“He’s asking about his grandma, his grandad and all of them.
“I can’t give him an answer.”
Despite this, Mr El-Astal is glad the family are now in Ireland and described Irish people as “just amazing”.
“I can’t imagine being anywhere but in Ireland,” he said.
“The kids are very happy here.”
Mr El-Astal’s mother has also been killed in the conflict and his father and two brothers remain in Gaza.
The family hoped they would be able to get out of the territory “within weeks” but next week it will be seven months since the war began.
“Sometimes I avoid speaking to my Dad, I avoid calling him because I feel helpless,” Mr El-Astal said.
“I tried everything with the Government and what I’m doing now is I started the fundraiser to just get them out.”
The family live in fear that an Israeli invasion of the town of Rafah is imminent and further lives will be lost.
“[Dad] says please do something before they go to Rafah and then when they go to Rafah no one knows what will happen,” Mr El-Astal said.
“No one knows if anyone will be able to leave and… h0e’s very scared of what will happen.”
The family are crowdfunding to help pay for the costs of leaving Gaza and relocating to Ireland.
Main image: The El-Astal family. Picture by: The El-Astal family
