Update.

GoFundMe have decided to stop donation transfers for Wadih.

This is the email I responded with to GoFundMe - to which I have not received a reply for over a week.

"Hello GoFundMe Team,

Your email is a textbook example of performative humanitarianism masking structural obstruction. The information you are demanding has already been clearly provided in the fundraiser description, including:

the full identity of the beneficiary,

his profession (journalist),

the nature of the emergency,

the purpose of the fundraiser,

where he is located, and

how funds will be used.

It is impossible to interpret this sudden “review” as anything other than another layer of bureaucratic gatekeeping disproportionately applied to Palestinian beneficiaries. You have distributed hundreds of millions of dollars elsewhere without demanding this level of invasive scrutiny or manufacturing logistical hurdles that delay life-saving assistance.

Wadih Abou Saoud is a journalist in Gaza surviving active bombardment, displacement, and the collapse of essential infrastructure. He is not an abstraction. Every day of delay increases the risk to his life. For you to frame this obstruction as “keeping the platform safe” while his reality is one of starvation, bombardment, and siege is morally repugnant.

Your message reads less like due diligence and more like structural gaslighting—a pretextual search for grounds to pause, freeze, or eventually shut down a fundraiser for a Palestinian civilian whose only “red flag” is that he is Palestinian.

All the required information is already publicly available within the GoFundMe itself. If your intention was genuinely humanitarian, you would recognise that and expedite the process, not invent redundant hoops. I will provide the clarifications you request, but it is undeniable that this level of interrogation is selectively enforced and reveals exactly the kind of covert malice and institutional prejudice that Palestinians face even when simply trying to survive".

Until GoFundMe resolves this please do not send any donations to Wadih as GoFundMe has paused all transfers, they are holding all donations, not releasing them and I am unable to send him your donations.

______

Hi, my name is Callie. I am an Australian and I am helping my friend Wadih Abou Saoud.

Wadih is a journalist in Gaza who has risked everything to report the truth throughout what a United Nations investigation has declared a genocide. He works under the constant threat of being targeted; with nearly 300 journalists and media workers murdered already. He has witnessed the human cost of the intentional targeting of civilians firsthand, where children are dying of starvation and preventable diseases. With Gaza's healthcare system annihilated and over 15,000 patients awaiting medical evacuation, he is now using his platform in a final, desperate effort to save lives. In collaboration with an organisation, he is working to evacuate the children of Gaza, offering them a chance at safety and survival. Your contribution can offer a lifeline to these children enduring unimaginable trauma and help give them a future.

______

About Wadih:

My name is Wadih Abou Saoud, a journalist and correspondent for several television channels since the beginning of the war, where I practice my profession to expose the harsh realities in the northern Gaza Strip. I have always been opposed to the idea of short-term displacement to the south.

Now, I am faced with a different mission: to secure a safe future for my family amidst the chaos surrounding us. We have been displaced many times for over 6 months and still suffer from the consequences of the war, with the destruction of our home and car.

My family and I are homeless. We are also faced with the difficult task of rebuilding our home. Our home, once filled with laughter and love, now bears the scars of war. War has left us with nothing we love; it has taken our loved ones and the places we cherish.

I am a survivor, as are my brothers, relatives, and friends. We want to live. We spent our whole lives searching for life, and you came and stole it from us.

We lost a lot where we almost lost our lives. We lost loved ones who meant everything to us.

Dear donors, I thank you immensely for the incredible support you have provided us with so far, and I am grateful for your amazing generosity. We are still somewhat far from raising the necessary funds to support my family. I would be grateful if you could not make any more donations, but you could share my fundraising page with others who might be able to contribute. I am attaching a photo of the place where we lived safely. The building has been completely destroyed, we have nothing left to live for here, and our lives are constantly in danger. Thank you again for your support; we will never forget it. Blessings from my entire family.

Sincerely,

Wadih Abou Saoud

-------------------------------------

Hello everyone,

We wanted to update you all on the latest developments and let you know that the situation remains very bad in northern Gaza. As you know, my family and I have become homeless after our house was destroyed. There is no place to shelter my small children. It is difficult to live a life where we lose so much, but we are very fortunate to be alive!

As times get harder here in Gaza, we are asking for your help once again!! We desperately want to take my family to safety and show them how wonderful life can be. Thanks to kind and amazing people like all of you, we believe this dream will come true.

We hope you can help our family move to a safer place. With your efforts, we can achieve this goal, so please don't hesitate to support us. You can share the link with your friends, and we thank you all from my family and small children.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your kindness, support, prayers, and donations! ❤️