Help Dalia with a fair chance for her kids in war torn Gaza

My name is Mohammed Abu Zrieq. The message below is from my sister-in-law, Dalia, who lives in Gaza, which I'm conveying from where I live in Germany. Many of you might be aware that due to restrictions based on geographic locations, people of Gaza are able to access funds collected through GoFundMe only through the help of families and friends in places where GoFundMe funds can be availed. As Dalia’s brother-in-law, I'm stepping in to help her launch this campaign and ensure that all donations made through GoFundMe go directly to support Dalia and her family during their extremely challenging times of crisis. Here is Dalia’s story, in her own words.

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My name is Dalia Abu Zrieq. I am 30 years old, a mother of three children, Mohammad, 6, Ibrahim, 5 and Dana, 3. My husband, Fadi, my children and I live with the painful memories of losing a child to stillbirth in the sixth month of my pregnancy in the midst of this war, back in January 2024. I'm currently pregnant and expecting a baby boy towards the end of November 2024, God willing, with your continued prayers for a safe and healthy delivery.

I write to you to share my story after surviving through almost 11 months of a seemingly unending war.

Since losing our child to stillbirth during the war, I have suffered tremendously, not only emotionally but also physically, due to lack of urgent health care in the under resourced, overburdened hospitals of Gaza, shortage of medical equipment, medicines and supplements for recovery, among others.

My very real and painful experience of loss has extended to feelings of fear for Mohammad, Ibrahim, Dana and for the child who I pray is born healthy and safely later this year.

Our lives before the war, the sense of stability that we had, are now memories of the past, of nostalgic remembrance.

This war has taken away something irrevocable from each of us. No place with children is any place for war, and any place with war is no place for children.

My youngest, my beloved, cheerful Dana, has been injured twice, requiring 14 surgical stitches on her face and legs as a 3-year-old.

My husband, Fadi, has lost his source of income, as no employer can afford to keep paying salaries with a war going on for close to one year.

Our entire family has had to leave our home after severe bombings and evacuation orders, narrowly escaping death.

We have not been displaced to a place with any promise of substantial safety and security: where we are in Nuseirat, basic necessities for survival such as clean water, food, medicine, primary care for the pregnant, remain scarce. There is no sense of security, there is no security.

We have lost beloved friends and family, our dreams have been taken away from us, we have been robbed of countless possibilities of making happy memories every day and each and every day we struggle to lead lives of dignity. We have gone through our savings to cover our basic necessities. I write to you, as a parent, seeking support to meet my children’s basic needs- food, water and medical care.

The truth is that I live with constant fear, in the shadows of a war that's yet to end. The painful reality is that I don't know if we will survive to see this war end. Yet, we must live with hope. We hope that you will understand how extremely difficult it is to go from living our ordinary lives to facing the uncertainties we now face everyday: about making it through another day with enough food, water and medical care for my children when prices continue to rise in Gaza due to severe shortages.

In our lives before this war, we would not have sought this support. This war has brought on such helplessness amongst parents, all of whom love their children more than their own lives, that we find ourselves in this previously unimaginable, most surreal situation.

Your support will cover our children's basic needs and will help me afford the vitamins, supplements, safe antenatal care, delivery and postnatal care that the child waiting to join us, needs for himself and his mother, who's waiting to meet him.

Every parent has a heart full of hope and cherished dreams for each of their children, an intense feeling of love and protectiveness that they feel for them instinctively and forever. The child we lost so tragically did not make it to live to be an adult. This is a pain we will always live with, no matter what changes take place. We reach out to you to help ensure that our children, and myself, as their mother, have a fighting chance of living a life of dignity is restored to our lives.

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If you are able to donate, no amount you think of giving is too small for us. I'm grateful to you for taking the time to read my story, and I thank you for your compassion and for your empathy. My most sincere and heartfelt gratitude to everyone willing to help us. The requested amount to cover the basic needs (food, water and medical care) for Dalia’s children’s and for Dalia's primary care and safe delivery. The total amount requested is EUR 25,000