Drogheda human rights activist overjoyed at ceasefire news

A Drogheda woman who spent five years fighting for the rights of political prisoners in Palestine says the ceasefire that came into play on Sunday is "nothing short of miraculous."

Jenny Boylan spoke of being unable sleep for a year due to the horrors of life under occupation.

Jenny found her passion in the area of human rights and got the opportunity to travel to Palestine in 2010 where she worked for an organisation that supported political prisoners detained for breaking Israeli military orders.

Having only intended staying in Palestine for one year, the activist decided to make the country her home taking up residence in the city of Ramallah in central West Bank saying she “fell in love” with the people and culture and the need to help innocent people.

At least 47,035 Palestinians have been killed and 111,091 injured in Israel’s attack on the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023.

"For anybody who cares about the Palestinian people, the possibility that their suffering will end feels miraculous at this point in time," said Jenny.

"The area has been bombed every single day since 7th October bar seven days in November 2023 when they had the first ceasefire agreement," she added.

"The level of suffering and the level of destruction is difficult to put into words."

The war on Gaza has been unlike any the world has seen before according to the Drogheda woman who said:

"It is a captive population which is different from any other war where people can actually leave, these people have been completely trapped in a 25 square metre space of land that has had more explosions hit than Hiroshima."

Israel has dropped more than 25,000 tons of explosives on the Gaza Strip since the start of its large-scale war on 7 October, equivalent to two nuclear bombs according to Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor , Geneva-based human rights organisation.

"I don't know if we have ever had a war where 90 percent of the population of a place are displaced. We can see the destruction of Gaza from space. "

Jenny who has kept in touch with people caught up in the conflict says there reports are hard to comprehend.

"I am in contact with a couple of people in Al-Mawasi, this is the so called safe zone that has tented areas on the beaches. I am seeing these people literally physically shrink over the months, I am seeing the plates when they do get food which is usually a plate of watery lentils but sometimes there are two or three days where they are going without food.

"Their tents are being flooded, it is horrendous. "

Jenny says that from her experience, Palestinians are "a giving and generous people" and seeing them suffering is "horrendous."

"I know Palestinians as people who feed people. You wouldn't be able to go anywhere in Palestine without somebody wanting to feed you. They see you are a foreigner passing a shop and they will give you things to eat.

"I would take the bus to work and farmers bringing stuff to the market would give me food."

The human rights activist says a ceasefire is just the first step and ultimately it won't be until the occupation ends that the Palestinians will truly be free.

"Security, safety and peace won't come through a ceasefire. We can look at every single attack on Gaza since Israel pulled out in 2005 and there is simply no security without the end of the occupation. The siege of Gaza absolutely has to end."