Family of Physicians Struggling to Survive in Gaza

Hi, my name is Dr Al-Sakkal and I'm a Family Medicine resident in Illinois. Im reaching out urgently to our medical community, family, friends, and kind strangers at home and abroad to help my husband Mohammad Al Omari's dear friend and fellow colleague in medical school who is currently struggling to survive in Gaza.

Dr. Mohammed Abdalmeneim is a Family Medicine physician who was working with the UN in Khan Younis. He was forced to evacuate to Deir Al Balah after the IOF targeted civilian homes and infrastructure in Khan Younis. The school in which he was initially sheltering in, along with thousands of other innocent civilians, was mercilessly targeted and bombed. He witnessed the targeted slaughter of children, in particular a 7 year old girl who had been shot in the head by Israeli snipers inside the school. With no medical equipment or life saving resources, there was nothing he could do for her except to hold her as she took her last breaths. She died in his arms.

With the bombing of the school and nowhere else to seek shelter, he fled with his wife, Dr. Eman Sarsour, who is an OB/GYN, and their 3 young children twins Ismail and Ahmed (age 5) and Zain (age 3) to Deir Al Balah. They left with nothing but the clothes on their backs.

His brother Dr. Ahmed Abdalmeneim his wife, and their 3 children Mohammad (age 6), Yara (age 4), and Rose (2 months old) as well as their father, FM physician Dr. Ismail Abdalmeneim their mother and three siblings Mahmoud, Ro'a, and Ruba were also forced to leave their homes in Khan Younis and flee to Deir Al Balah on foot.

Conditions have been unimaginably difficult for this family as they struggle to not only survive, but to help injured civilians who have been maimed, crushed, and systematically starved with no basic medical supplies while they themselves are also starving.

The level of desperation they have reached pushed Mohammad to make the dangerous journey back to their home in Khan Younis in the hopes of salvaging anything of use from their home. His journey ended when he reached what was left of his home, a pile of rubble not even resembling the remains of a home. His father's home as well as his brother's home were also targeted and bombed to the ground. His sister's neighborhood no longer has any traces of its former glory, just piles of dust, blood and dead bodies decaying in the streets.

We plead with the medical community at large to come together and help support this family of physicians who are experiencing unfathomable hardship. All funds donated will be sent to helping this family with basic necessities to survive. Please donate what you can and share widely to those you know. We have a duty to help our fellow physicians, especially those who are serving their patients under the threat of kidnapping, torture, and murder by the IOF for upholding their oath to their patients.