Help Mohamed save his family escape war-torn Gaza

We live in Galway, Ireland, and are making an urgent appeal on behalf of our dear friend Mohamed Alkurdi, who is desperately trying to get his family to safety.

Originally from Gaza, Mohamed graduated with a Master’s degree from ATU Galway last September and was on a visit home to his family when the violence broke out. He has recently managed to evacuate. Thanks to his residency permit, he was able to return to Ireland after enduring 3 months of a nightmare, each day of which, he did not know if he would survive to see the next.

The rest of Mohamed’s family, however, is in Rafah – trapped and with nowhere to go. He is tormented by the suffering and trauma they are still enduring amid the constant bombings, the hunger, thirst, displacement, blackouts, and obliteration of civilian infrastructure. With a ground invasion of Rafah declared imminent, what is already a disastrous situation is set to get unimaginably worse.

Mohamed’s family still trapped in Rafah are:

His father Majdi – a retired lecturer in scientific methodology (60) – and his wife Iftikhar (48) ; his older sister Shereen (33) and her husband Mohamed (35) – an Arabic teacher – and their 5 children between the ages of 2 and 12; his older brother Khader (32), who is an architect, his wife Ghada (23) and their two girls – the youngest of which is 3 months old and was born during the war; his brother Jalal (32) and his wife Taghreed (30); his sister Kawther (23) – who graduated with a degree in interior design the day before the war broke out; his brother Saleh (20) who was studying for the same degree; his sister Raghda (22), an IT student, and his youngest brother Majd (11) who is pictured above.

The entire family evacuated the North of Gaza as soon as they were ordered to leave. Their beautiful home, with garden and fruit trees, was bombed and is now completely destroyed.

Mohamed's home before

Mohamed's home after

They first evacuated to Khan Younis, and then had to move again to Rafah as the situation deteriorated even more. Now, absolutely nowhere is safe in Gaza. They are currently sheltering in an abandoned garage with no facilities whatsoever; no heating, no electricity, no running water, no kitchen, no bathroom. All the things we take for granted.

We are aware that these are terrible times, where saving a human life has a monetary cost. We are aware that there are many people trying to fundraise to evacuate their beloved family members. But if were we in the same situation, we would also try everything humanly possible to save our loved ones, by whatever means possible. We are witnessing an unprecedented, man-made catastrophe in the making. As we face the silence of international governments in the face of this monumental humanitarian crisis, all we have left is you, the people of the world’s solidarity.

Mohamed’s family never wanted to leave their home, and they really don't want to have to leave their country. But they have no control over the situation they find themselves in and are literally in danger of their lives as we speak.

We are appealing to anyone willing and able to donate, to please help Mohamed rescue his family. We will use the funds as they are being gathered so that, each time we reach the cost for one person, we will evacuate them immediately.

We thank you with all our hearts for taking the time to consider our appeal and for any support you can offer. Just know that all support you give, will directly help towards saving their lives.