My name is Bahaa Abu Al-Qaraya. I’m a 39-year-old Palestinian from Gaza. I’m still unmarried — not by choice, but because poverty, the blockade, and the tragic circumstances we live in have turned even the simplest dreams into luxuries I cannot afford.

Before the war, I owned a small barbershop. I worked with dignity to support myself and my family. We lived in a modest home, but it was filled with love and a sense of safety. We didn’t have much, but we had enough to live with dignity.

Then the war came… and swept everything away. My shop is gone, and our home has turned into a pile of rubble — buried beneath it are the remnants of my life. Now, my family of eight and I live in a tent, constantly moving from one place to another to escape death. We carry my elderly mother, who can barely walk, through debris and danger, seeking shelter from the bombing and praying we won’t be next.

My father passed away — not from an airstrike, but in silence, because he couldn’t access medication. Hospitals are overwhelmed. The siege is choking every breath in Gaza. We watched him die in front of us and couldn’t do anything to save him.

This war has left us no choice. We are trapped in an open-air prison, forced to live in fear, hunger, and cold. All we can do is try to survive.

All I wish for now is a chance to escape — to get my family out of this nightmare, whatever the cost. Even food and water have become luxuries.

Any donation, any support — no matter how small — can mean the difference between life and death for my family.

Please, share my story. Help me save my mother, my siblings, my family… We are not asking for much — just a chance to live.