DayofPal—A young Palestinian girl has described her journey from war-torn Gaza to Ireland as a painful passage between two worlds, marked by survival, displacement and deep guilt at leaving her family behind.
Rawand Alagha, a Palestinian student from Gaza, arrived in Dublin earlier this year after being granted rare permission to leave the besieged territory amid Israel’s ongoing war.
Alagha had been accepted to study at Trinity College Dublin, but her plans were derailed when borders closed and intense bombardment engulfed her neighbourhood, forcing her and her family into repeated displacement.
As the war escalated, Alagha and her family were displaced five times, each move stripping away possessions and any sense of safety. After a brief return home during a temporary truce, she found their house badly damaged and uninhabitable, a reminder of how deeply the war had altered their lives.
“When September came, the borders of Gaza were shut tight, my neighbourhood was being bombed almost every day, and the dream of university collapsed with the buildings around me.”
In April 2025, Alagha’s name appeared on a limited list of around 130 people allowed to exit Gaza, including dual nationals and special cases. She described the experience of crossing as tense and emotionally overwhelming, marked by fear of being turned back and guilt over leaving loved ones behind.
She did not contact her family until reaching Jordan, where she said both she and her mother broke down in tears.
After travelling through Amman and Istanbul, Alagha arrived in Dublin, where she said the contrast was stark. The calm of airports, open skies and everyday routines felt surreal after months of living under bombardment, where daily life revolved around survival, rationing water and listening for air strikes.
“Each time, we left something behind: books, clothes, memories, safety.”
Alagha says she now lives with what she describes as “survivor’s guilt,” while her family remains in Khan Younis, still facing instability and insecurity. She maintains daily contact with them, though lapses in communication often cause deep anxiety.
“It no longer felt like the place we had built our lives… It felt haunted by what had happened.”
Despite finding support among other Palestinians in Ireland, Alagha says the trauma of war continues to shape her life. She describes carrying the weight of those who could not leave and seeing her education as both a personal opportunity and a responsibility to speak for those still trapped in Gaza.
As she begins rebuilding her life in Ireland, Alagha says her hopes remain tied to Gaza: to complete her studies, use her voice to raise awareness, and one day help her family reach safety. “You don’t leave war behind,” she said. “You carry it with you.”
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