Emergency: Please help rescue my family from Gaza

Emergency: Please help me rescue my family from Gaza

My name is Wafa Alijla. I am a Gazan engineer who lives in the UK. I left Gaza to pursue my masters degree two years ago. I used to live with my parents, my brother, his wife, and his children in Gaza City Centre. Since the aggression on Gaza broke out October last year, my family was forced to leave our home and was displaced many times into the south of Gaza strip (Deir al Balah City), they spent nights under heavy bombardment, and faced so many hardships like all other Palestinians in Gaza.

Our home was hit by a missile, and we lost the only thing we own we lost everything.

During the first three months my family used to refuse accepting any money from me and used to guide me to send this money to people who are in more need, and they used to accommodate with the per minimum they have, and wait for humanitarian aid to get the medication needed for my parents. However, now even with the money you cannot buy anything since most of the markets are bombed or empty with no food left to buy. Due to the lack of food and medicine, my family’s health conditions worsened, nothing is left for them, in the remainings of the house all the money robbed and our house destroyed. They tried to borrow some money to get out and save anyone that can be saved. However, the price demanded in the Egyptian border went from [phone redacted]$/person before the war to 5000$/person for leaving in a month, 7500$/person to leave in a week

which left them speechless and hopeless. I tried to get a loan to get them out from that hell and try to save the maximum of people but because of my status as a graduate visa holder, my loan request was rejected. I tried every mean possible, but everything failed, and I am watching them slowly dying day after day.

Both of my parents are retired, my mom was a high-school teacher, she was diagnosed with Osteoporosis five years ago and since then she takes regular medication and supplements to support her little movement, through these last months, she had to walk for long distances and stopped taking her medication which causing her unbearable pain. My dad has a PhD in economics he is healthy and active, however, going through a huge mental pressure caused him many heart issues and he also needs a regular intakes of medicine, his closest brother and nephew were killed which caused my dad’s heart condition to worsen and he now needs the open-heart surgery.

My brother on the other side has a bright future, he finished his masters abroad and secured a Phd position starting this August, he never had any medical issues but enduring all of this stress in the last months he is now having musculoskeletal issues in his back stopping him from freely moving while he has to go to look for food for his children and my parents everyday and queue for hours.

He has a 6 years old daughter my beautiful niece ‘Talin’, she wants to be an engineer in the future just like me, I believe she will be, from her drawings you can tell that she has a big imagination and a creative way of looking into the world! The last time I video call her was in October at that time she asked me if the bombardment is also severe in the UK, she thinks it is a normal thing happening everywhere in the world, she joined school for year one in September 2023 and since October she was deprived of education, she cannot even draw anymore, her brother Mazen is 2 and a half years old and he is facing difficulties in communications having the impact of the violence he is witnessing through this aggression.

These circumstances will have a long term impact on my family, and as the time pass it will become too late to rescue them, as for now the bombs are not the only way to death, and I am petrified of the fact that I might lose them in any moment.

The money I am collecting now is only to pay it the Egyptian authority to get them out of Gaza. Any other costs for their accommodation or expenses of living outside Gaza I will take care of it. Although if I succeeded in getting them out of Gaza I still have loads of people I love in Gaza which is a big pain for me. But my family needs urgent help, they need to get medical care and rest in a safe place.

If in anytime l was not able to get them out of Gaza for any reason, I will donate the money to the UNRWA to help support the people in Gaza.

Please help me to get them out! their lives are in danger.