Ismail Banner (20) grew up in northern Gaza with his mother, brother, and father. Before the war, he was a university student, studying videography with a dream of getting a job to support his family. After October 7th, 2023, that dream died. Now his only dream is to get his surviving family members to safety across the Rafah border.

The Israeli incursion was brutal from day one, with a massacre occurring near Ismail’s house. He and his family witnessed an Israeli bomb kill more than 80 people, leaving many more wounded. That was just the first of several massacres he would witness.

After the massacre, Ismail’s family left home to seek shelter somewhere safer. Travel was difficult because Ismail’s father, Muhammed, navigated the world in a wheelchair due to paralysis. It was challenging navigating his wheelchair across the broken, bumpy roads and rubble. Muhammed lost consciousness several times due to sun exposure and high temperatures. There was little shade. It is harrowing for anyone to be forced to flee their home, but especially for disabled people. Ismail feared his father would not make it.

But finally the family finally arrived at Banat Al-Nusayrat, a school next to the Nuseirat refugee camp. Once Ismail’s extended family— including his father, mother, brother, sister-in-law, and three nieces — settled in the school, Ismail returned home to northern Gaza to collect the family’s belongings, including clothing and food. He was shocked to discover the family home reduced to rubble, everything in it destroyed.

Ismail reunited with his family empty-handed. Back in Nuseirat, sounds of explosions terrorized the sheltering family from six in the evening until six in the morning. They could not sleep. Instead, they huddled together until morning, so if a rocket struck, they would die together. That way, Ismail reasoned, no one would be left alone to grieve lost family members.

As Israel’s offensive displaced more and more families, Banat Al-Nusayrat became increasingly crowded. Ten families crammed into one classroom with Ismail’s family. In such close quarters, disease spread rampantly. Ismail fell sick with hepatitis, vomiting every time he ate, so that he stopped eating altogether for a week. Lacking running water and plumbing, sewage leaked throughout the grounds and polluted the drinking water.

Muhammed’s health deteriorated in the harsh conditions. He grew very sick. The family lacked the medical supplies to care for him. So they relocated again, this time to an encampment in Deir al-Balah.

But the tent conditions there, though less crowded, were worse. There was even less access to water. Without water or medical care, Muhammed’s condition worsened. So Ismail pushed him to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. But he found the hospital, like most in Gaza, in dire condition: lacking resources due to the Israeli blockade of fuel, supplies, and medical assistance from other countries.

Without proper medical care, Muhammed’s condition worsened. He suffered from injuries and infections. He lost a lot of weight. Finally, on August 16th, 2024, after surviving multiple displacements, massacres, hunger, thirst, and illness over the course of almost a year, Muhammed died. He died not because of his disability, but because of Israel’s occupation, which, in addition to depriving Palestinians of food, water, and shelter, destroyed most hospitals and prevented the entry of medical assistance from other countries.

Without a source of income, and amid the pangs of grief over the loss of his father, Ismail is now responsible for supporting his family. They are starving. They are thirsty. Water is scarce. Ismail waits in line from 2pm until 6am to get water. It has become so expensive that his family cannot afford it. They have been displaced multiple times and nowhere in Gaza is safe. Will you please help Ismail? As Ismail writes, “I ask you to donate so me and my family can evacuate from Gaza when the Rafah crossing opens again.” In the meantime, your donations will help the family afford food and water.

This story is based on the first-person perspective of Ismail, which he shared over messages. Story co-written with Ismail Banner and fact-checked for translation accuracy by Lujain Sarrar.