I am Yehia Shbair from Gaza (Palestine). I am married with two daughters and two sons. Maria (3 years), Miral (11 months), Mohammed (10 years), and Rakan (7 years). I am writing this after much thought and hesitation. But the urgent need to save my family is greater than my ability to withstand.

While fleeing their homes on foot, heading to the humanitarian zone, carrying only their clothes on their shoulders, a man drove up behind them, not looking around, causing an accident on Rakan and Mohammed. Mohammed and Rakan were then transferred to the hospital for treatment. A day later, they were discharged due to the large number of victims which were wounded.

I am urgently requesting your generous support to help me evacuate my family (my parents, wife, children, and sister) from Gaza. I traveled to Saudi Arabia on October 4, 2023. My trip was scheduled to take only two weeks and then I would return to Gaza to attend the birth of my baby girl, whose mother was eight months old when I traveled. However, as you know, war was declared on Gaza on October 7 and the Rafah crossing was closed to those wishing to return to Gaza. I was unable to return to her.

Then my wife gave birth to my daughter Miral while I was away from her. I stayed in Saudi Arabia for about 6 months looking for a way to be with my children while they were under bombardment, but I was unable to do so. After 6 months of trying, I was allowed to return, so I went directly to Egypt. Upon my arrival in Egypt, Israel occupied the city of Rafah and the Rafah crossing was completely closed, so I was unable to go to Gaza or evacuate my family to Egypt and save them from genocide. My daughter will be one year old and I have not seen her until now. Even if the crossing was opened, I was unable to evacuate my family due to the high coordination costs. The matter did not stop there.

My family in Gaza is homeless after the Israeli occupation destroyed my home and my family's entire 4-story home. Here they are sitting in a tent in completely inhumane conditions after being displaced about 5 times and suffering the most severe suffering, with no electricity, no clean water, the spread of diseases and epidemics, very hot weather, little food and drink, and very high costs. 11 months of hell and terror have passed. This genocide has been so long that it is unbearable. The matter did not stop here, my source of livelihood was destroyed. I had a marble factory and I am a professional worker in anything related to marble installation and I create the most beautiful home kitchens and the like, but unfortunately the occupation completely destroyed it and I no longer have any source of livelihood that I and my children can depend on.

To cross the Gaza-Egypt border "Rafah", your name must be listed on the crossing list (paid permit), and the coordinators in Egypt who have the authority to add my family's names to the list at the border are now asking for an amount ranging from 5,000 to 8,000 dollars per person! They will not add the names until we can prove that we have the money ready. “As the eldest in the family, I would not be able to live with myself if something happened to my family and I did not do everything in my power to get them out when the borders opened. Unfortunately, our home was demolished and all our dreams were shattered after years of hard work. I spent all my money to build it.

Please help me get them out. I would sincerely appreciate any donation, even a small one, which would make a huge difference in alleviating our suffering. Please consider sharing my campaign widely with your family and friends to reach my goal as soon as possible because every second is a risk of death in Gaza. I will be eternally grateful for your generous help in this difficult time.

Thank you again for standing with us in solidarity and making a positive impact in the lives of those affected.”