Hello. I am Alan Leverenz from New York. I have been organizing funds for young mothers in Gaza who desperately need assistance to sustain their children's lives. I am hosting this fund for Ekhlas Aldaour, who I have known for several months now. Here is her story and plea for assistance:

"My name is Ekhlas Aldaour from Gaza Strip. I am 28 years old. I graduated from the Islamic University with a Bachelor's degree in English Language Education. I am a teacher of English language.

"Before the war, I lived a decent and comfortable life. I lived in a spacious house with beautiful furniture, where my children played and were happy when their father returned from work. But when the war began on Gaza on 07/10/2023, my life turned upside down. My children and I were displaced from northern Gaza to the south in the Mawasi area of Khan Yunis, while my husband remained stuck in northern Gaza.

"I had no one by my side but myself. I was so strong that I built a tent myself. It is made of plastic tarpaulins that do not protect us from the summer heat or the winter cold. We are living next to the sea and its scorching sun that wakes us up every morning from its burning, and its salty water and its sand that is invariably present in our food, hands, and feet, and its flies that wake us up every morning.

"Water is unavailable in the area where I live. My children, who are under five, and I have to carry 10 liters of water from very long distances. I would reach the tent exhausted, too exhausted to go back the next day. No matter how strong I was, I remained a woman with a woman's body that couldn't carry heavy loads.

"We were separated from my husband for a year. He would call us every day to check on our well-being and what we needed. Are we eating healthy food? Are we drinking clean water? The answer was no. In war, we only eat what is harmful to human health because there is no availability of healthy food in the markets, and we only drink polluted water, which has ruined the health of my youngest son.

"Israeli occupation aircraft bombed my husband while he was sleeping in our home in northern Gaza, and he was martyred. It bombed him a few hours after I finished talking to him. If I had known that these were his last hours, I would have prolonged the conversations and not left him or slept. I still do not have the ability to visit his grave until this damned war ends. With his loss, I felt as if I lost the entire world. His death was my greatest loss.

"Now I think a lot, who will stand by me after him? Who will feed my children? Who will stand and protect me from the hunger that Israel is inflicting on us? Who will help me? Who will support me? Who will feel my suffering in the tent, me and my children?

"The camp we lived in has been subjected to a wave of bombing, killing, demolition, destruction, and displacement. I fled to the area that Israel claims is safe, but the danger has reached our camp. So there is no safe area. The bombing does not stop for a single moment, day or night."

Note: Your donations will be directed to her account so she can access it. Palestinians have to pay a commission on cash they receive, which has been as high as 50%. Food offered by local merchants was priced 10 times higher, though recently it has decreased a little.