I am trying to raise funds to help my friend Amal Zagout and her two boys evacuate from the Gaza Strip. They are an incredible family trapped inside and desperate to escape the very difficult conditions they, and so many others, are facing. With your help, Amal and her boys could get another chance to start again in a safer place.

Amal was forced to leave her apartment in Tal Al Hawa neighbourhood in Gaza City with her two sons, Mohammed and Samer, after constant bombardment and a military invasion. They fled to Rafah, picking up Amal's sister and her very young nieces on the way. Since October, they were about twenty people sheltering in a one room apartment with Amal caring for all. Just recently they have been forced to flee again to the Middle Area of Gaza because of the constant bombardment and the threat of an Israeli ground invasion of Rafah. They have no access to clean water, food, or medical services and are under constant threat.

In Amal's own words: 'I am Palestinian, though I was born and brought up in a refugee camp in Egypt. My mother, who was my whole world, died suddenly from cancer when I was 17. I came to Gaza with my sons in 2007, after the death of my husband and my 14-month-old daughter in an accident in Yemen. We arrived with nothing, and it took me nine years to pay for my apartment – and another two years of hard work to pay for all the furnishings. Now I am fearful that it will have been destroyed and once again we have nothing. I am sad beyond words. At the age of 52, I am not afraid to die. We all die: what matters is to do good with your life.'

Amal has lost many of her friends in these last months and she found out her apartment was destroyed some days after they had fled.

Despite the multiple wars and traumas Amal and her boys have faced, she still greets so many with love and hope in her heart, dedicating her life to helping others. Until the crisis began, she was a community programme officer with Medical Aid for Palestinians, a non profit organisation. I worked with Amal for a non profit from 2010-2011 in Gaza and this is where I witnessed this single mother raise a pair of kind and intelligent young boys during very difficult times. She took me under her wing and became like a sister to me. Her generosity of spirit, her integrity, her sacrifices and love for her kids, family, and neighbours know no bounds. Amal and her boys deserve to live their lives in dignity and safety.

The funds raised will be used to get Amal and her boys out of Gaza - it costs about 5000 USD per person to leave Gaza. Any additional funds will be used to support them in their relocation.

Please consider donating whatever you can or share this with your family and friends in case they can support. With much appreciation and gratitude x