Emergency Evacuation Fund: Saving Lives, Escaping Conflict

Greetings,

My name is Suliman Adwan, and I am a Palestinian who used to live in Beit Hanoun, North Gaza, until the war began on October 7, 2023. I have five children, one son, and four daughters, all of whom are under the age of sixteen. When the Israeli army ordered us to evacuate the city, my entire family, including my parents, siblings, and their families, totalling 35 members, had to leave our multi-storey building in Beit Hanoun and seek refuge in different schools or hospitals in Gaza City. We all had to endure extremely difficult living conditions during this time.

My family and I sought refuge with one of my siblings at the Patient’s Friends Hospital located in central Gaza, specifically in the Rimal area. We endured a brutal bombardment and a siege that lasted more than three months. During this time, we faced a shortage of food, water, and safe shelter. As the bombing intensified near the hospital, my parents, my mother, and my sibling's family decided to flee towards the southern area, where they encountered Israeli tanks. Unfortunately, my father was killed on the road between northern and southern Gaza.

A Photo of the Patient’s Friends Hospital (our shelter) after it was bombarded.

After our father's death, we went through a lot of emotional turmoil and had a hard time retrieving his body from between the tanks. Eventually, we were able to bury him in Deir al-Balah. We spent almost a month in the shelter school there, living under very difficult conditions. Meanwhile, my other siblings ( Zakaria, Ahmed and Ibrahim) and their families had to stay in very cramped shelters in Rafah.

Photos of my bother Zakaria and his children ( Abdullah, Ikram, Mohammed, Monther, Rose, Yahya):

In Rafah Shelter

Before war

Image of my brother Ibrahim's children - Jannah, Mohammed

Image of my brother Ahmed's children - Abdullah, Fatima, Mohammed, and Zainab - in a school shelter. The conditions there are unimaginably challenging, lacking safety, hygiene, and even sufficient food.

I finally managed to travel outside of Gaza after enduring over four months of hardship. However, I am deeply saddened by the situation of my remaining siblings and their families in Rafah who are living in extreme hardship and humiliation.

It's widely known that leaving Gaza requires a significant amount of money to travel through the Rafah border crossing.

We implore your support to facilitate their exit from the Gaza Strip once the war ends, ensuring their safety, especially now after the recent attacks on Rafah, putting their lives at risk. We can no longer bear this tragedy, having lost lives and property.

We urgently appeal to you to help save our lives, my siblings' lives, and their families from this devastating war.

I request the specified amount for the following reasons:

Travel permits to enter Egypt: $5000 for each adult (6 adults * $5000 = $30000) and $2500 for each child below 16 years old (12 children * $2500 = $30000). Total $ 60000 for my family evacuation

Our homes in Beit Hanoun have been destroyed, and all our possessions lost.

Photos of our home after being invaded by Israeli forces and then demolished. Our home was full of flowers everywhere.

Praying in Ramadan in our lovely home before the war

Israeli Soldier's Message to My family after Invading and Demolishing Our Home.

From our demolished home, our message to those terrorists and Zionists is clear: we will never surrender.

I feel embarrassed to ask for financial support, but unfortunately, it seems to be the only option that we have to survive and save our family. We lost our father in this war and we lost two other brothers who were brutally murdered by the Israelis in 2004 and 2008.

I appeal for your financial support in the hope that our suffering will not continue and that we can return to our lives and build our future and the future of our children.

Thank you for your consideration