Help my disabled uncle and his family Survive Rafah, Gaza

Hi everyone, my name is Hashem Murtaja. I’m a Palestinian American originally from Gaza. I’m writing to you today on behalf of my mother’s disabled uncle, Ibrahim Murtaja, age 70, who’s currently entrapped in Gaza where his days are numbered as death is in every corner of the Strip. Below you can read an excerpt written to you by Ibrahim’s daughter, Fatima Murtaja, age 38, explaining the current situation at hand.

“Hello everyone. Life here in Gaza has become unlivable and our reality continues to worsen with each passing day. In November of 2023 my family consisting of my father, Ibrahim, my mother, Rajaa, brother, Shaban, and myself, ages 70, 59, 27, and 38, were forced to evacuate from the North as our house, that was passed down to us through generations, was airstriked.

The effects of this war have been difficult on all of us, but especially so on my father, Ibrahim, who suffers from serious medical difficulties that were the result of a hit and run incident in 2003. In 2003 my father left Gaza to go to Israel, seeking out a job in his field of accounting to provide for our family. As my father was walking down a road next to a settlement, an Israeli settler woman ran him over with her car and he suffered from a skull fracture which put him into a 40-day coma. This traumatic brain injury resulted in his loss of smell, taste, hearing, walking, and memory. With age, his condition worsened and he has now lost the ability to feed himself.

The action itself of evacuating to Rafah was a nearly impossible feat due to my father being wheelchair bound and his overall worsening health condition.

My family and I currently live in a tent in Rafah. It is impossible to create an accommodating life for my father with the current situation at hand as we struggle to find food, water, medicine, and electricity. I’m writing this to you with a great urgency and desperation to try and gather the funds needed so my family and I can evacuate to Egypt, where my father can seek the appropriate medical help that can allow him to live to see another day. To cross the Rafah border, we must pay $5,000 per person. All donations made will be used to help us evacuate and pay for our living expenses such as medical care for my father, rent, grocery, house supplies, etc once we make it to Egypt, God willing.

I sincerely appreciate you allowing me to tell my family’s story and I thank you for all your generosity.”

All donations made will mean the world to them. Thank you for your generosity and consideration.