{"id":559588,"date":"2026-06-29T08:31:20","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T08:31:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/559588\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T08:31:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T08:31:20","slug":"medically-fragile-man-evacuated-to-dublin-from-gaza-forced-to-move-to-kilkenny-despite-need-for-hospital-treatment-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/559588\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Medically fragile\u2019 man evacuated to Dublin from Gaza forced to move to Kilkenny despite need for hospital treatment \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

A family evacuated from Gaza<\/a> by the Red Cross and given emergency accommodation in Dublin said they were forced over the weekend to move to a new home more than 100km away or face homelessness<\/a> because no affordable housing could be found in the capital. <\/p>\n

Fatma Wali, her husband Saber and their five children had been living in accommodation sourced by the Irish Red Cross<\/a> in the Caritas centre on Merrion Road for more than a year as they tried to rebuild lives shattered by Israel\u2019s prolonged bombing of Gaza<\/a>.<\/p>\n

They spent months living under the shadow of fresh upheaval, having been told they would have to move to the outskirts of Kilkenny<\/a> largely as a result of the housing crisis<\/a> in Dublin. <\/p>\n

The family repeatedly expressed increasingly urgent concerns that their proposed relocation would be unsuitable on medical, psychological, educational and practical grounds. They pleaded with the authorities to find more suitable accommodation closer to the hospital they visit up to three times weekly and the schools the children have settled into.<\/p>\n

The pleas fell on deaf ears. <\/p>\n

Amir Wali (22) is, according to his mother, a \u201cmedically fragile young man\u201d with severe haemophilia and debilitating joint issues that require him to walk with crutches. He requires weekly treatment in St James\u2019s Hospital<\/a> in Dublin and cannot use public transport because of his condition.<\/p>\n

Fatma fears his condition will worsen as a result of the move and said the relocation would also impact the psychological stability and educational continuity of her teenage children, Yousef and Lina, \u201cespecially in light of the family\u2019s war trauma\u201d.<\/p>\n

Multiple family members have lost their lives or been seriously injured in the conflict and the Walis were split up for more than a year. Fatma and two of her younger children were evacuated from Gaza in late 2024, while her husband and other children, including Amir, were left behind until the Israeli authorities allowed them to leave. <\/p>\n

Amir arrived in Ireland \u201cphysically and mentally exhausted\u201d and still suffers from psychological trauma, she said. His haemophilia means he can only walk short distances, making their new home \u201cfunctionally isolating\u201d.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Israel continues to commit genocide by targeting children in Gaza, UN commission findsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

The relocation has been further complicated as Amir has been awarded a UCD scholarship<\/a> and is set to start a degree course in September. \u201cThis is a major turning point after losing his educational life in Gaza [and] one of the clearest pathways toward independence, dignity and long-term integration in Ireland,\u201d Fatma said. <\/p>\n

The Red Cross said it had supported 27 children and their families who were brought to Ireland as part of the Gaza Medevac Programme. <\/p>\n

It said families were initially\u202flocated\u202fin Dublin to facilitate health\u202fassessments\u202fand medical supports. After that they were moved to accommodation outside the capital \u201cdue to limited\u202faffordable\u202foptions available\u202fin the city\u201d. <\/p>\n

It stressed that the Dublin accommodation was \u201calways temporary, and this information was shared with the families from the outset\u201d. <\/p>\n

It had \u201cfocused on finding sustainable and suitable accommodation where the families can stay together, feel part of a community, and have access to essential services\u201d, it said, adding that it would support the Wali family with \u201ctransport to and from medical appointments\u202fin Dublin\u202ffor an initial period to assist with the transition\u201d.<\/p>\n

A spokesman for the Department of Health<\/a> said it \u201cfully understands that some families would prefer to remain in Dublin; however, following an extensive search suitable longer-term accommodation in Dublin has not been identified\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said the relocation was \u201cprogressed on a clinically informed basis, with transport, interpretation, social care and integration supports in place\u201d, and highlighted measures \u201cto minimise any disruption that may be caused\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A family evacuated from Gaza by the Red Cross and given emergency accommodation in Dublin said they were…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":559589,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[40],"tags":[9,10,3496,18,13,14,3761,6,24081,8752,19,17,3762,3857,1328,11,12,15,16,5,72078,7,8,15913],"class_list":["post-559588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-department-of-health","tag-eire","tag-featured-news","tag-featurednews","tag-gaza-strip","tag-headlines","tag-homeless-crisis","tag-housing-crisis","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-irish-red-cross","tag-israel-hamas-conflict","tag-kilkenny","tag-latest-news","tag-latestnews","tag-main-news","tag-mainnews","tag-news","tag-st-jamess-hospital","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories","tag-ucd"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116832468076538078","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/559588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=559588"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/559588\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/559589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=559588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=559588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=559588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}