Dear Friends and Kind Supporters,

I am starting this GoFundme to help support my elderly and diabetic uncles in the Gaza Strip. As they have lost their sources of income for over seven months now, any help we could offer them to purchase basic needs would be extremely valuable.

Please consider this GoFundMe as a way to directly help someone in the Gaza Strip.

My uncles are Alaa, Majed and Mazen Alzaharna. With their wives and children, they are 8 people. My uncles have witnessed horrific terrors in Gaza over the last few months and their health condition is deteriorating. They've had to flee on foot so many times, walking 25 miles from Gaza City to Khan Yunis.

Please read their story below

My uncles all worked in a local, family-owned travel agency for years. Making a very humble income (as travel is incredibly difficult from Gaza) while struggling with different health conditions. They are the most kind, sincere, and hardworking people I know.

When this war started back in October 2023, they were left afraid, with no income, and no access to proper medication, food or water. They were steadfast until the last moment, and refused to flee their home in Gaza city until they were absolutely forced to. Their home was struck and damaged.

When my uncles fled to the south, they had to walk under gunfire and in front of tanks, risking their lives. My uncle Mazen (first photo on the right) has had diabetes since childhood and could not walk long distances. When they finally found a wheelchair for him, my 60+ years old uncles pushed him for a four-hour walk from Gaza to Khan Yunis. They initially stayed with family members in Khan Yunis, until they were forced to flee again to Dayr Al Balah.

Now, they are all sheltering together in in a small garage where they have to pay monthly rent. After 6 months of the Gaza war, the rise of food prices, the lack of income and medicine, and their deteriorating medical condition, my uncles are trying to appeal for help directly using this GoFundMe.

If you can support them to purchase their basic needs (food, rent, diabetes medication, water), any and all amounts would be truly appreciated and would help them keep hope to one day return to their home in Gaza City once the war is over.

If we could reach $15,000 CAD, that would be enough to support them for the rest of the year.

I will personally withdraw the money and send it to them as soon as it reaches a substantial amount.

Below are photos of their insulin medications that they struggle to get in Gaza. Their medication is costly, and they can never find the type of insulin that my uncle Mazen needs, which leaves him feeling unwell. Moreover, supplies and healthy food (which is expensive) are always needed to ensure their blood sugar levels don’t drop. I’ve also included a photo of my 64-year-old uncle Alaa’s Palestinian ID, which is one of the only documents they have after fleeing so many times.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions, and I thank you sincerely again for considering a donation.