Help Mahdi Family from Gaza Reunite Safely

I'm Laura Beckman, an American from Brooklyn who has gotten to know the Mahdi family through messages and calls over the past few weeks. I can feel how worried and heartbroken their mother, Zeina, is for her two sons stuck in Gaza. Here's the story in Zeina's words:

"I am a mother and I fear for my children very, very much. The bombing does not have mercy on anyone. My children are hungry and afraid and their psychology is devastated. I am sick and tired because of their distance from me. I want to register them for travel as soon as we have the funds and the crossing re-opens.

We live in difficult living conditions after the bombing of our house in Gaza and the survival of 2 of my children who are still in Gaza after the other 5 evacuated. The first is studying dentistry and the other is studying high school. They need to fundraise to exit Gaza, as they cannot find any food or clean drinking water.

This is a video from Muhammad, 20, and Sedqi, 18, who are stuck in Gaza and need to reunite with the rest of the family:

This is my son Muhammad, 20. This photo is at his university before the war. Now he is in Gaza. He suffers from difficult and extremely harsh conditions without the slightest necessities of life:

This is Sedqi, 18, after receiving his high school diploma:

We are a family of 7 members, father, mother, and five children Muhammad Mahdi, 20 years, Sedqi Mahdi, 18 years, Hala Mahdi, 14 years, Abdullah Mahdi, 10 years, and Siwar Mahdi, 5 years old.

These are their little brother and sister Abdullah, 10, and Siwar, 5, who miss them terribly:

Abdullah, 10, in front of our olive tree in the garden:

Siwar, 5, in the garden:

This is the neighborhood where my children lived in Gaza:

This is a picture of our house. The bombing destroyed half of the house and half of it remained uninhabitable:

This is the village where my family grew up, in Maghazi Camp in Deir al-Balah, before and after the bombing:

Evacuation for my two sons, because they are over 18, costs $15,000. After we are able to evacuate them, the remaining $25,000 will go towards paying for rent, food, education, and clothes for our family of 7 in Egypt. We had to rebuild from zero after our home was bombed, and so we have no means to continue paying rent as refugees in Egypt. In the end, any amount you can donate will help my family meet our basic needs and we will be so, so grateful to you for your generosity and pure heart.

Sincerely,

Zeina Mahdi

[Note from Laura: funds will be initially deposited into my checking account, and then transferred to Zeina via Western Union, where she can pick up the funds in Cairo and register her sons to evacuate.]

Stay in touch:

Laura's Instagram

Zeina's Instagram