Help us to restore our life!

Dear beloved friends,

I am Rima Jabaly, a Palestinian residing in Gaza.

War, a word that seemed distant from our reality, has now become an inseparable part of our daily lives. Like many here, I am no longer the person I used to be; war has left me with mere fragments of who I once was. It has erased my feelings and left me feeling like a soulless body.

My father lost his job, and my brother, who used to work online with his company abroad, no longer has the resources to continue his work due to the weak internet and frequent power outages. My brother's fiancée and I have lost our studies, with a whole academic year wasted, and at least two more years at risk due to the destruction of educational institutions.

Our lives have become complicated and devoid of happiness and hope. We now only search for a way to survive, each of us struggling to find meaning in this miserable existence. War has not only destroyed our homes, streets, and cities but has also destroyed us. We find ourselves in a state of loss and ruin.

We have been displaced from the north of Gaza to its south, and we have been here for about 145 days, living in a shared apartment due to the high population density and the lack of available housing. This displacement has increased our suffering, as life has become even more challenging than before.

With deteriorating conditions, the staggering impact of the cost of living cannot be ignored. Prices have skyrocketed, doubling or even tripling by 200% to 500% or more due to the lack of economic regulation by the Ministry of Economy amid the war. This situation has added an additional burden to our lives, leaving us in a constant state of anxiety and stress.

We now face new challenges that make us wonder about our ability to endure more. We have lost hope in seeing an end to this suffering, living each day as if it were our last, waiting for a new day to come where we can start anew, away from this hell we are living in.

The question that constantly weighs on our minds is: How will we endure this torment? How will I gather the pieces of myself after all this destruction? And most importantly, who will compensate us for all this wreckage? War has not only destroyed our material foundations but has also destroyed us mentally, physically, and emotionally.

The other question that haunts us is: When will this suffering end? When will we be able to look back and say that this terrible nightmare has finally ended? We have lost hope in seeing the end, living each day as if it were the last, waiting for the day when we can start anew, away from this hell we are living in.

I need to travel to Egypt with my father, brother, and his fiancée to escape the nightmare of war that we are still suffering from, and to try our best to live and achieve some of our dreams that have faded and shattered due to the harsh conditions we are going through. Unfortunately, even in times of war, it seems that there are those who exploit our tragic situation and consider war an opportunity to profit at our expense. To clarify, hefty fees are imposed on us if we wish to leave, amounting to $5000 (53000 NOK) per person as departure fees from Gaza to Egypt through the Rafah crossing, making things even more difficult and subjecting us to further financial pressures in times of crisis like this.

This means that four people need $20000 (211500 NOK), with $2000 (21100 NOK) for transferring the amount to Egypt and the cost of our departure to Egypt.

We reach out to you to help us evacuate ourselves before we lose any family members and to reclaim some of our shattered dreams and lives.

Sincerely,

Rima