The Omar family has been surviving under unimaginable circumstances in Gaza since October 7, 2023. Before the war, Elham, the only daughter in the family, and her mother, Nahla Abdul Wahab, ran a beauty salon. Elham also studied nutrition while working and wants to continue on this path. Her brothers--Amjad, Sami, and Ibrahim--worked in construction before the war. Their father Ali Abu Omar is an artist and before the war, earned an income by creating models and drawings for schools, When the war began, he was injured in his leg and lungs by an explosion on our street, which also killed three of their family members.

Since the genocide, the family' beauty salon became a shelter for displaced relatives, they spent summers living among ruins and corpses in sweltering heat, the brothers have lost all job opportunities, and the family was eventually forced to flee their home after a call from the occupying forces. They are currently living in a camp in Gaza Deir al-Balah, cooking on firewood and scraping together money to buy flour, rice, water and other necessities at exorbitant prices since the occupation has once again stopped aid and food from entering Gaza. The shelves of stores are becoming more bare each day. A bag of flour is currently priced at $100 a bag, which lasts the family about 6-7 days. A kilo of rice is now $6 instead of the normal $2. A kilo of sugar costs $7 instead of the usual .50 cents.

The family is praying for hope and help as they hang on to what they have after enduring much over the years before and after October 7th, including losing their brother Adam in 2011.

Any amount you can give can help keep food in their stomachs and their spirits up as they wait for the occupation to end. I was connected with this lovely family via comedian Sammy Obeid's peer-to-peer organization the Pal Collective.