Like many families impacted by the genocide on Gaza and the Palestinian people, Ahmad and Noor Alhelemi’s young family have been devastatingly impacted by the genocidal attacks.

Alhelemi’s family’s ambitions were to live in a small, stable home. Their children, Khaled and Misk, dreamt of having their own bedrooms, where they would each have a bed and a closet. Ahmad and Noor worked tirelessly to fulfill their children’s wishes. Noor’s main source of income was an online boutique that sold women clothing. As soon as the genocide began, Noor lost all her merchandise and any means of survival.

Two weeks before the genocide began, they moved into a new home. Noor sold all her gold jewelry, Ahmad took out a loan, and they both spent all their savings to move in to their own space. They did not get a chance to furnish the space or grant their children their wishes of sleeping in their own beds. Their new home was bombed to the ground by an Israeli airstrike. The family now resides in a small tent that they share with another young family. They put a curtain in the middle of the tent to split it into two chambers. They have access to a public washroom that they share with hundreds of displaced families with limited access to water, food, or any other essential necessities.

Alhelemi family does not want to leave Gaza. Gaza is where Noor and Ahmad grew up, went to university, fell in love, and had their two beautiful children. Staying in Gaza is as essential as life for this young family. However, they lost their main source of income, they are in debt, and the future is unknown under their current circumstances. They are asking people to donate to them so they could rebuild their lives and remain on their lands.