Please help Ashraf and his family evacuate Gaza

Dear friends and community members, my name is Irina and I reside in Colorado, USA. I lived and worked in beautiful Palestine for five years until last year. I am reaching out to all of you hoping to raise monetary support for Ashraf Al-Tibi, his pregnant wife and a child to evacuate Gaza. Ashraf is the son of my dear friend, a fellow humanitarian aid worker in Gaza. Here is Ashraf's story, in his words.

"Since the end of the first week of October 2023, our lives have been turned upside down. I am 30 years old, married, and have one child, one year and a half old, and I am waiting for another new baby. After finishing my Bachelor’s degree in Tourism and Hotels in Egypt in 2016, I returned to my homeland to be with my family. I had an apartment in an extended family’s home and lived in the same house with my parents, brother, and sister. It was one of the most beautiful houses in the neighborhood, and inside, we had a small garden full of flowers and trees. My parents had a small plot of land, and I turned it into a small youth café despite the lack of capabilities at that time to develop it. I worked on it for 14 hours daily for two full years to make it a good place for customers. After that, I continued improving it until it became popular with neighborhood customers. Suddenly, everything changed. When the Israeli aggression started, we started to fear for our safety and were forced to leave our family home with all the meaningful memories and beautiful furniture and belongings without being able to take any of it.

Partly out of fear for our children and under the intense bombing that was all around us, we fled to various areas within the city, desperately searching for a safe place to save our lives. On the way to the southern area of Rafah, we faced many difficulties. We ran under mortar shells and witnessed the destruction beyond belief and the loss of many lives. We experienced overcrowding and the displacement of thousands of Gazans to the south. When we reached a somewhat safe place, my family and I lived in an apartment with more than 25 people inside, without beds, covers, or household kitchen tools; the house lacked all basic things. We namely search for food, medicine, and safe drinking water for us and our children, especially for my pregnant wife. Our current place is severely crowded and lacks privacy. Obtaining diapers is difficult due to the lack of availability, and if they are found, they are available in limited quantities and expensive, and we do not have cash. We cannot buy winter clothes for our children for the same reasons. As a result of overcrowding, lack of water and access to hygiene, our children have fallen ill with disease and diarrhea.

We thought we would return to our homes soon, but the Israeli military and regime are focused on decimating all human life in Gaza and are quickly approaching Rafah, where we and 1.5 million Gazans are sheltering. We were informed by friends who are still in Gaza City that our house and all its furniture and stuff were completely burned and destroyed, and the house became completely unfit for living. With your support, we can restore hope that there will be a shelter for my family away from the scourges of war and displacement. I would like to use this money to evacuate my immediate family from Gaza into Egypt ($7,000 per person) as soon as possible. If this nightmare ends, I will use this money to rebuild my shop and eventually restore our family home to a livable place.

Thank you so much, Ashraf."

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