Hello, I am Israa from Gaza, 28 years old. I grew a year older during the war. I am a dentist and an artist, from a family of nine. My mother suffers from heart arrhythmia, and I am trying hard to get her treatment outside of Gaza.

I worked as a dentist and had dreams like any young woman my age. But then the war came and destroyed everything—my clinic, my future as a doctor, and the dream I held onto my whole life. I have lived through all the wars in Gaza since they began, with the first one in 2008. I struggled immensely to get to where I am in the midst of these wars. Now, I am left without a job, without an income, without a life, having lost my clinic and my only source of livelihood.

I lost many members of my family in the Al-Shati massacre on 14/10/2023. I also lost my only uncle, who was trapped in the Abu Assi School in Al-Shati Camp. A shell hit his leg, and he bled for two days without receiving any first aid because the area was besieged by the occupation forces. He passed away two days after his injury, on 12/11/2023. I also lost my cousins, who were all erased from the civil registry in the Al-Maghazi massacre.

I am currently inside Gaza, specifically in the Al-Nuseirat area, after several displacements from one place to another. I have siblings studying abroad who need university fees, rent, and basic necessities like food and water. But with the war and life halted here in Gaza, we are unable to provide for them because we cannot work, and there are no job opportunities. There is no electricity, no water, no remaining buildings—everything is destroyed. We are dying here.

I am waiting for the borders to open so I can take my mother for treatment. We need coordination, and for one person, it costs over $55,000.

I ask you, my brothers and sisters, to stand by me and help me and my family survive. We need the basic necessities for life—food, water, university fees, and medical treatment for my mother. I also hope to restore my dream of working as a dentist again, and to rebuild our home, which was damaged by the bombing.

Please help me save myself and my family, who have lost everything—our work, our dreams, and our lives. We want to survive. I am very grateful for your continued support. May God bless you all, my brothers and sisters.