Sanaa El-Nahhal yesterday embarked on a philanthropic mission to her war-torn homeland, the Gaza Strip, armed with 850 kilograms of supplies for her family and other Palestinians and a mind packed with mixed emotions.

About to board the afternoon Egyptair flight to Cairo, Ms El-Nahhal found it hard to put her finger on the conflicting thoughts that raced through her mind. It was all a major "question mark" at that point.

"I am happy to be helping my family but sad they have reached this point. I am happy I am going to see them but sad to see them in this state."

The 40-year-old, who has been living in Malta since 1989, should be greeted on landing by relatives - her family has been literally split down the middle, with half living in Egypt and the other in the Gaza Strip, where the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been raging.

She should then progress in a convoy of two cars and a truck directly to her unlikely destination: her hometown Rafah on the Egyptian border.

Ms El-Nahhal knows "it is not possible to get into Palestine" but she plans to try and believes "God willing, there is a chance".

She is looking ahead in hope, "the way the Palestinians have always lived," she said. "We believe that we will not suffer forever and that we will get there in the end."

The timing may be right. As her plane was taking off, Hamas said it would immediately observe a ceasefire and give Israel, which already declared a unilateral truce, a week to pull its troops out of the territory. The Islamist group said previously it would not stop its attacks as long as Israeli soldiers remain in the Gaza Strip.

Moreover, Hamas is demanding the opening of all Gaza border crossings for the entry of materials, food, goods and basic needs.

Even a minimal chance of entering the Gaza Strip is good enough, Ms El-Nahhal insisted. "In pitch darkness, the flicker of a candle is sufficient; you may want more light but in those conditions, it will do...

"Something needs to be done," she said, preferring to attempt the journey than sit around while her family lives in misery and fear.

She is in contact with her siblings and said they have no food, electricity, water, schools, or work.

"The children are so afraid; they are all sleeping together in the same room so that if they die, at least, they die together."

Ms El-Nahhal's aim is to provide some relief by transporting about 30 boxes of medicines and 30 of clothes as well as food: the whole point of her visit but which is also likely to block her entrance.

The medicines and the food have been donated by the government. The Maltese have also demonstrated their generosity, she said.

Ms El-Nahhal is scheduled to return on Sunday but nothing is certain, she points out. If all goes according to plan, she would like to organise regular trips such as this one, which she is treating as a pilot project. Her intention is to return to Palestine within 10 days.

In the eventuality that she does not get into her homeland, she will leave the goods with her family in Egypt and let them be taken over slowly.

At Malta International Airport yesterday, Ms El-Nahhal was assisted by friends and her two teenage children. Her husband could not be there to see her off because, being a doctor, he was on duty. "He has been supporting me and helping me out, staying by my side all the way, and was so upset that he could not make it," she said.

Her 18-year-old daughter, Lina, was worried to see her mother head for the war zone but "happy that she is happy".

The last time Lina visited Palestine was in 2005. She would have liked to join her mother but her University tests start today.

Apart from the 60 boxes, Ms El-Nahhal is accompanied by a journalist and a photographer. She thanked Tony Vella, from Egyptair, for having made sure her supplies got onto the aircraft.

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