Dear Friends,

I'm asking for your support on behalf of five families from Gaza who were successfully evacuated and have managed to make it to Egypt. I was put in touch with these families through a mutual friend and we have since established regular contact. Here are their stories in brief as they told me.

Having already endured and lost so much they are now confronted with the unfavourable environment in Egypt towards Palestinian refugees. Obtaining residency permits (including temporary residency or asylum permits) is an extremely arduous process and often results in rejection.

Palestinian refugees receive no financial support and are prohibited to work. Accessing basic necessities, such as healthcare, education and accommodation is very difficult.

Safaa is a mother of three children, an 11-year-old girl, an 8-year-old boy and a 4-year-old boy. She came to Egypt in April with her children after she was injured in the leg when a missile hit her home. Her husband and eldest daughter, aged 15, remain in Gaza. She told me her 15-year-old son was martyred. Safaa was staying in the hospital in Egypt, and her family all now stay in a single room in a two-bedroom flat shared with another family from Gaza.

Since her injury she has had three operations, two of which were in Gaza, but there is still some shrapnel left in her leg.

Her financial situation is difficult. She told me she receives very little support from relatives and is struggling to pay rent and afford daily expenses on top of her medical treatment.

Iman is a young woman from Gaza who managed to leave in May and is currently staying in Alexandria with her five young children, including one who was born during the war. Her husband is still in Gaza living with his family in a tent. Iman told me her parents' house was completely destroyed, and her uncle, his son, and his wife were martyred.

She and her family are in need of urgent funds to cover rent, to care for her new-born child and to pay for basic survival necessities like food, clothing and transport.

Sara is a 20-year-old widow. She married her husband Naji in 2021, and they enjoyed a beautiful life together which was then elevated with the arrival of their baby girl Elin, on October 6 2023. The following day their dreams began to be torn apart. Sara, her newborn and her family were forced to leave their home in the north not long after the baby’s arrival taking refuge in a school in Khan Younis and then two months later forced to evacuate to Rafah and had no choice but to live in a tent where Elin was always getting sick.

Naji however, stayed behind in the north wanting to stay behind and protect his family’s home. He was shot by Israeli snipers a few months later.

In April 2024 Sara and her family managed to evacuate to Egypt where she since been staying with her two sisters, aged 16 and 9, her mother and, of course, 1 year-old Elin. Her brother Oday remains in Khan Younis.

With no income Sara and her family rely on limited financial resources to pay their monthly rent and basic living necessities as well as extra support for her newborn like regular health checkups.

This is Sara (right) and her family.

Shaima is 25 years-old and has suffered immeasurable losses over the past 14 months. She lived with her husband and 4 children in their house in Wahsh in northern Gaza. Towards the end of last year her house was targeted by a missile which completely destroyed the house and took the lives of 3 of her 4 children, aged 17, 15, and 10.

She herself was very badly injured from the attack in her leg and she told me she has had 20 operations on it, the first of which was in Gaza before fleeing to Cairo, accompanied by her sister for further treatment and safety.

She said she left her husband and their only remaining child, aged 14, in a tent in Deir El-Balah.

Alia is a mother of 8 and has cancer. She left Gaza in April 2024 to come to Egypt for medical treatment with her 8 children: Rula, 20; Rima, 17; Mahmoud, 16; Ruba, 15; Abdul Latif, 14; Hala, 10 and Saba, 7. Her husband remains in Gaza. Needless to say her living situation is really tough, living in a cramped apartment with all her children, taking regular treatment for her cancer with practically no financial support to cover treatment, rent and basic living necessities.

Alia's two youngest, Hala and Saba in their apartment in Cairo.

Like with Shaima, The funds will go towards her numerous medical bills and treatments as well as her living expenses of rent, food and other necessities.

Thank you for your kind support and generosity. Every donation makes a difference.

Please reach out if you have further questions on the breakdown of donations.