Get life saving aid to Samah’s family in Gaza

Samah's story – A mother from Rafah fights for the lives and future of her children

My name is Samah Abu Younis, I am a mother from the city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip – specifically from the Tal al-Sultan area. We are a family of four: me, my husband Muhammad Saeed Abu Younis, my daughter Hala, and my son Awni.

Before the war, we lived a simple life full of love, laughter, and memories in our small house that embraced our dreams and security.

My daughter Hala, who is four years old, was very excited to go to kindergarten. She was eagerly waiting for this day...She packed her small bag, arranged her clothes, and dreamed of sitting on a study bench, learning and playing with her friends.

She was smiling at me innocently and saying:

"Mama, I want to go learn...I want to be smart, and I know how to read and write."

But the war stole her dream before it began.

Hala had to be late for education for two full years.She grew up watching the bombing instead of watch

ing the colors, books, and notebooks...She started looking at the children carrying their bags, and whispering to me:

"Mama...I want to go learn...I don't want to grow up and I don't know anything."

As for her brother Aouni, who was two years old when the war began, he knows nothing of the world except the sound of war and the smell of fear.

In October 2023, we had to evacuate our house because it was in a dangerous border area, and we moved to a school in Khan Yunis. There, my children and I were separated from my husband for a while. Then, as the Israeli occupation army invaded the city of Khan Yunis, we were once again forced to flee to a tent in Rafah, where we still reside.

We tasted the bitterness of loss...We lost family, friends and loved ones, and we lost our home, which was everything to us.

Our house was completely destroyed.

My husband lost his job in painting

and construction, and all we have left are the clothes we wear.

We went through harsh days, very cold nights without blankets or clothes to keep us warm, we got sick and found no medicine, and we went through long days without water, without food, without even a bathroom.

Then came the biggest pain...when my daughter's health began to crumble before my eyes.

Hala, my little girl, suffered from severe malnutrition and severe dehydration. Her little body could not bear

hunger, fear, cold, and homelessness.

Her face turned pale, her eyes sunken, and her hands trembling with weakness.

I picked her up and ran her to the hospital...But she found nothing there but IVs.

She spent weeks in the hospital not eating or drinking, just living on solutions, fighting to stay alive.

She was holding on...

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Hi my name is Fatma but I go by the name Fa-Zah. I live in London and I am raising funds on behalf of a sister that I was introduced to whilst in Cairo for the Global March To Gaza. Whilst I was unable to reach the Rafah border to protest in order to end the siege and allow humanitarian aid through the border, me and a close friend of mine who was also on the march stayed in Cairo and was acquainted with the organizer of a wonderful initiative there. They provide support and aid to evacuees/refugees from Gaza and also has people on the ground in Gaza that run projects there too. Her sister who is still in Gaza trying to survive with her family during a genocide is in desperate need of our help, together we can do this.

I'm raising £10,000 for an emergency to provide basic needs for a family fighting starvation with no way of providing for themselves during a genocide. They are in need of money for, treatment, vitamins, food and expenses, kindergarten education, clothing