Please help save Maryam Hasanat and her family

My name is Mark Hoffman, and I'm fundraising to try to save the lives of Maryam Ibrahem Hasanat and her family. Maryam is a 25-year-old Palestinian refugee and mother who's trapped with her husband and son in a nightmarish situation in Rafah, Gaza. She's eight months pregnant and probably must give birth by Cesarean in a few weeks because she has an unusually narrow pelvis.

In Gaza today, having a Cesarean is a death sentence. Last week, Maryam's best friend, Haia, had a Cesarean while in labor in a field hospital there. Unfortunately, because there was no anesthesia and no proper medical equipment, Haia died from shock and uncontrolled bleeding. Her baby girl also died. The chances of Maryam and her baby also dying in childbirth are very high. Maryam and her family must flee Gaza and get to Egypt right away so she can give birth safely in a hospital there.

Before the war, Maryam and her husband, Mohammed Mashharawi, lived a normal life. Maryam graduated from college with a degree in English Literature, and she taught English at her home while raising her two-year-old son, Kamal. Mohammed worked as an engineer.

They had to flee their apartment on the first day of the war, and it was destroyed by an Israeli missile soon after. They were forced to go to a series of refugee camps before ending up in Rafah in December with not much else but the clothes on their backs. They have to pay $150 a month to rent a tent, which they share with six other people.

Life in Gaza is getting progressively worse. Israeli soldiers shot and killed Maryam’s brother-in-law in November while he was trying to find his wife and child. Then Haia and her baby died last week. Maryam and Mohammed are desperate to get out of this dreadful situation.

We hope to raise $50,000 to get Maryam, Mohammed, Kamal and Maryam's mother and sister to Egypt. It costs up to $8,000 per person to get someone out of Gaza and to Egypt. Maryam needs her husband with her because Egypt is a poor country and it’s difficult and dangerous for a lone woman from Gaza to travel around there, especially when she’s about to give birth. They'll also need money to live on when they get there. They must leave Gaza right away because Israel might invade Rafah in the next few weeks, before she goes into labor. Then the Israelis will close the border, and Maryam will have to get a Cesarean without anesthesia and proper medical care. Most likely, she'll die a horrific death on an operating table.

How much would you give if Maryam was your friend, sister, or daughter and you could save her and her family members? Please give what you can to help save the lives of Maryam, her unborn child, Mohammed, and Kamal.