Do you know what it’s like to watch your family starve? I do.

It's with a great feeling of helplessness that I share with you the news of my family starving in Gaza. As a father, I decided to do something to save my two young children.

Hello friends, my name is Tareq Almadhoun and I live in the North of Gaza. I'm a loving husband and a proud and caring father of a girl, Joman, 8 years old and a little boy, Zeyad, 4 years old. I'm also proud to be a teacher of English language.

My family and I were living a peaceful and decent life just like any other family in the world. Then all of a sudden, our life turned upside down.

Imagine waking up to find your life shattered, your home reduced to rubble. This is the reality that we face today.

As a teacher, I once filled classrooms with laughter, chalk dust clinging to my sleeves as I shaped young minds. When the war in Gaza closed the schools, it also closed my salary. Each night I counts coins, not dreams, praying tomorrow brings bread enough for my children. Their hungry eyes follow my silent apologies at dinner.

Sad news about my home

After almost two years of a prolonged journey of displacement, the Israeli army allowed the displaced civilians to return to their homes. My family and I could hardly make it back home on foot walking long distances with our two little kids.

The very longed-for moment came and we couldn't believe our eyes that we finally had the chance to see our destroyed home. The very sight of our sweet home was heartbreaking. It literally was not a fit place to live. My apartment had been literally burned down to ashes. My bedroom had gone up in flames. My living room had turned to piles of ashes and the walls had been covered with soot. I had lost all of my personal memories and belongings. Moreover, the bombing of a neighbouring house actually made things much worse for me and my family. All of the walls in my hard-won little apartment have been blown apart making my apartment a risky place to live in.

The efforts to restore our life and home were in vain

Following a very exhausting experience away from home, I could hardly get my self together to start an even more exhausting journey of making my home fit for living. It took me almost two months of hard work to do what seemed like a mission impossible to accomplish. To my family, it was a great relief to have a place where we can stay.

Sadly, Our happiness of returning home was great but short-lived. Once again, the Israeli army issued new evacuation orders demanding people to evacuate to other places. This time, we all felt that it would be a journey of no return. We didn't know where to go and nowhere felt safe. It's been four months now since we were forced out of our homes. My wife took our two kids and decided to stay at her parents' home where they are hosting a few more of their displaced relatives. At this time, I had to stay away from my family at a time when they need me the most.

In these times of adversity , and as a father of two children, I'm really going through a genuine financial hardship after losing my living as an English language teacher. Sadly, for more than two months, I haven't received my 800 shekels (worth 250 dollars) salary, which is nothing like a living wage.

The skyrocketing prices of commodities

It's been around a couple of years now since we have been deprived of our most basic rights including the right to food security and the right to secure access and distribution of humanitarian aid such as flour, rice, and other basic commodities which sent their prices skyrocketing.

Being paid a starvation wage, I'm always having a hard time trying to make ends meet especially at these difficult times. I often feel helpless when I look into the eyes of my children and feel their hunger. My son Zeyad, who is three and a half years old, was diagnosed with malnutrition.

No one could ever put up with this madness

My two little kids who had been staying with their mom at her parents' house had been living in constant unimaginable fear eversince we had been forcibly removed from our home in Jabalia city north of Gaza a few months ago. Eversince, the nearby bombing, artillery shelling and shooting from military quadcopters hadn't stopped for a moment. My young daughter Joman and little son Zeyad have had long sleepless nights and sadly had come down with fever and high body temperatures as a bodily reaction to what they had experienced. They used to call me every day to tell me how afraid they were feeling when they slept to the sounds of artillery shelling very close to them. For almost 3 days, a small military quadcopter would fly into the house and take photos of the place and people inside and then fly away leaving everyone especially children in panic. My kids never stopped talking to me on the phone asking me to come and pick them up to a place where they thought they would feel more secure. A few days ago I had no choice in the matter but to take the risk of getting shot under quadcopter shooting in order to move to a relatively safer place in Gaza city.

The situation in Gaza has become unbearably difficult for my family, and we are facing a truly desperate reality. With the border crossings closed once again, very little food is allowed in, causing the prices of basic commodities to skyrocket far beyond our reach. I proudly dedicated my life to being a teacher, but the current crisis has cost me my job, leaving us with absolutely no source of income. Today, all my family has left is the hope of your generous support; we are simply asking for the help we need to secure enough food to keep our children alive. Furthermore, with Eid al-Fitr quickly approaching, my heart aches that I cannot provide for them as I once did. Your kindness would not only help us survive this hardship, but it would also allow me to buy modest Eid clothes for my little ones, giving them a brief moment of joy and putting a much-needed smile on their faces amidst this devastation. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your compassion and humanity.

Please consider donating to support my family. Your generosity will help us rebuild our lives under these heart-rending conditions.