Episode description

When Israel attacked Gaza in the wake of the violent and bloody incursion by Hamas on October 7 that saw more than 1300 people killed and around 250 hostages taken, one Palestinian-Irish family was caught in the eye of the storm.
Zak Hania, who had moved to Ireland where his four sons were born and had returned to the Strip to take care of his ageing parents, found himself doing everything he could just to keep his family alive while they sought to escape.
A plea was made to the Irish consular office in Ramallah, and almost miraculously, Zak's wife and his four sons were allowed to leave via the border crossing at Rafah.
But Zak's name was not on the list of those allowed to exzit, and he remains in Gaza, where food and water are ever more scarce and the indescribable violence continues.
On this week's Global Gael, his son Mazen joins me to talk about his family, his upbringing in Blanchardstown, moving back to Gaza and the horror of what has happened since early October.