Help the Abu Khalil Family in Gaza

Yes, the news from Gaza is sad and overwhelming - but you can make a real difference to folks who are just like you.

Please consider donating to my GoFundMe for a family I personally know in Gaza who are trapped, starving and suffering. 

Up until now, the close-knit Abu Khalil family: an elderly father, ten siblings and thirty grandchildren had managed to keep going - despite the heartache of: losing their homes, ongoing health worries and the children's trauma from the bombs and fighting.

Mostly because one son made it out of Gaza, and has been working hard, sending back every dollar he can to support his family.  

I know how proud they are. How little they want to ask for help. 

But this week, the family have hit their breaking point. Here's what one son wrote me, and what I share with his permission: 

"I never imagined I’d fear for my father’s life not only from the ongoing war, but from hunger and a lack of medicine.

Since I left Gaza with my wife and children last year, I’ve managed to support my father and family back home. But this past week has been the hardest of all.

A few days ago, my younger brother called me in distress:

'We have nothing left to eat, and I can’t find any medication for dad’s blood pressure or diabetes.'

That call was a nightmare. The overwhelming sense of helplessness I felt and still feel is unbearable.

Like tens of thousands of others who had to leave Gaza, I now find myself unable to protect those I love most.

My father is still in Gaza, surrounded by his children and grandchildren.

We are a family of ten siblings and thirty children, to feed the family one meal a day, costs around $300 per day, an amount I simply cannot afford anymore.

I’m reaching out, humbly and with a heavy heart, to ask for help.

A small contribution could mean a child doesn’t sleep hungry or that my father gets his medicine.

Anything you can give would mean the world to them.'

I know how hard it was for him to write that. To ask me, to let me ask you.

Please let's do this. Let's raise 300 USD a day and keep one family alive. 

In times like these, food can be had...maybe even medicine...but only for what is to most, an impossible sum of money. Think what it would be for us to buy a Billionaire SuperYacht. 

But just as Bezos can afford a superyacht handily, so too can we afford to buy food and medicine in Gaza. Let's help one family where we can, while we can now. 

For those of you who know me, or who don't; I worked for the BBC for over 20 years. For the last 4 of my career, I was based in Jerusalem, running the BBC's day-to-day operations in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza. I know the region well, I know Gaza well. I have people I trust helping with this. 

If you give to this cause, I promise you the money will go to people I vouch for personally. There are no Hamas supporters hiding in the shadows. 

Every Sunday, I'll take what we've raised, and I'll transfer it to the family. And let's all pray the prices don't keep going up and there's a ceasefire and an end to this war soon. 

Children should not starve when there is food to eat. 

Old People should not die, for lack of a blood pressure pill. 

When we can, we should help. 

I'm happy to answer any questions anyone has.