UPDATE:

I am writing to you from Cairo. My family and I recently escaped from Gaza after enduring nearly eight months of the most severe war  we have ever experienced. We have lost everything—our home, jobs, car, and all our assets. We are struggling to find hope.

On the morning of May 7th, my family (including my wife, son, parents and sister) and I left Northern Gaza. We walked about four kilometers alongside soldiers and tanks, carrying our luggage on our backs over rugged terrain that has left us with persistent backaches. The journey was perilous, filled with the sounds of gunfire and bombardments, but we had no choice but to take this risk for our survival.

Miraculously, we made it to South Gaza and reached the Rafah crossing the same day. However, it was extremely dangerous, with airstrikes occurring nearby. At one point, an airstrike was so close that it shattered windows around us. Despite these terrifying circumstances, we managed to get our papers signed and boarded the first bus to the Egyptian side. That same night, the border was occupied by Israeli soldiers, halting further travel. We were incredibly fortunate to reach Cairo.

We had planned to stay in Cairo till we receive our new passports so that we could continue our journey to Australia. We have now obtained our new passports. We humbly request your continued support to cover the expenses incurred during our stay in Egypt and those we will need to pay to start a new in Australia.

Nothing can replace our beloved homes and memories, but little can help us stand on our feet and start anew

We humbly request your continuous support to help us. Your assistance is crucial for us during these challenging times

Your support would mean the world to us.

My name is Fahmi Ayyad. I am 35 years old. I have been working as a project coordinator at YMCA Gaza –a non-profit organization- since 2015 where we help Gazan communities all over Gaza strip.

I was born in Gaza and I lived here my whole life.

Our life has changed since October 7, 2023; since then, we have been living in fear for our lives that any moment could be our last, we lost a lot and everything has been changed.

Vivian and I got married in November 2017. Vivian is 28 years old and works as a Pharmacist at al Ahli Arab Hospital since 2021. In October 2020 we had “Issa” our beloved son. He is everything to us in this life.

We are Palestinian Christians, and we come from a very small community with around 900 people in Gaza. It was never easy for us as Palestinian Christians here.

We have faced a lot of hard times in Gaza before, with smaller escalations happening, but we were able to overcome them and stay in our homes. this time it is completely different; bombardments everywhere targeting all areas, houses, streets and schools. Within two days of the war we had to leave our homes and go to Saint Porphyrios Church and took shelter there, hoping it is a safer place.

On Thursday, October 19, 2023 and without any warning, the scout building at the church compound was bombed by airstrikes where 17 of our friends and relatives were killed - Most of them were children and women.

We are not okay because we don’t feel safe. We suffer from lack of basic food, wheat (bread), vegetables, fruits, and poultry. We can hardly find a proper meal for our kid. If available, prices of everything is approximately multiplied by 15. Our son has the right to live in peace like all the children in the world, he has the right to access food, clothing, diapers and a safe place to play. These are the least necessities he needs. Since the beginning of this war, our kid Issa has been living in a contaminated environment where he has suffered several diseases such as diarrhea, stomach ache, fungi, and many colds and flu because of the polluted water and shared living space. Every day, Issa continuously asks about our house, his kindergarten, pet bird ( who died during the war from lack of food) and toys which puts more burden on us.

During the pause of the fight, we went out of the church where we could barely identify streets and buildings. Our beloved home got partially destroyed and at that moment we knew that all of our dreams are future plans are destroyed and that life in Gaza is not suitable for our family. I spent 65,000$ to build that house!

After the pause of the fight, the war got even worse than before in the church neighborhood. Our car that costed us 17,000$ got completely destroyed from an airstrike. Now everything that we own is destroyed; even my university is destroyed where I just started studying Master’s degree couple of months before the war.

We seek your support to start a new life where the funds will help us to start over. We are planning to evacuate and start over in Australia. We have some relatives who helped us grant a visitor visa to Australia. In order to leave Gaza, we have to have lots of money to cross Egypt (5,500$ per person and keeps changing) in addition to accommodations, transportations, and flight tickets.

Once we get to Australia, we need to pay for basic expenses such as clothes, groceries, home-renting, and basic furniture.

Even if we were unable to evacuate, whether because of availability of funds, or safety precautions, we will use the funds raised to meet our emergency needs here in Gaza.

We are thankful and grateful for your kind and generous help and support. This will give us a beacon hope to start a new life.

Update: On April 1, 2024, we heard that IDF left our neughbourhood after 14 days of ground invasion. We went to see our home, again. We expected to not be able to recognize the streets but it was worse. They changed the landmarks and the whole neighbourhood is now gone. Our home is completely burned. Now, we literly have completely lost everything.

(Please note: Since GoFundMe is not working on our local bank, this page is set up by my Norwegian Colleague, who will transfer all the money to me when the campaign close).