Rebuild Hope: Support for a Gazan Family's Future

Hello everyone,

I hope this message finds you well. I would like to begin by expressing my gratitude for your time and attention to consider my family’s issue. Your support and consideration mean everything to us.

My name is Abdallah, and I am a Gazan currently living safely in Glasgow. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for my five family members who have endured unimaginable hardships over the past few months due to the ongoing conflict in Gaza. If you know me, or anyone from Gaza, you would understand that we are raised with dignity, and making a choice to create this fundraiser has been extremely difficult. After much contemplation, hesitancy, and more than eight extremely difficult months into the conflict, my family and I have decided to publicly share our story.

On October 7th, I had a premonition of dark times ahead, and sadly, I was right. My family has faced relentless fear for their lives, displacement from our home multiple times, and the terror of seeing our house destroyed for the second time in less than three years.

Unfortunately, at midnight on the 10th of February, the Israeli warplanes dropped 2 missiles on our next-door neighbour’s house whilst my family was in our house. Being in Glasgow, I was extremely frightened, and I can only imagine how hellish it was for my family at that moment. The bombing caused massive destruction to our house, turning the walls into rubble, blowing windows and doors off their hinges, and filling the house with debris and glass. This was a horrific scene that my family had to experience for the second time within a short timeframe. I am grateful that they only suffered minor injuries and were able to escape alive.

We are uncertain as to whether our house in East Rafah remains intact or has been completely destroyed, particularly following Israel's escalation of its ground offensive in Rafah. Everyone in East Rafah were forced to leave to Al-Mawasi area in the western part of Rafah, and returning to the area became very risky. My dad spent years building our house and sacrificing a lot in the process to ensure we had a safe place to live. Rebuilding a house that was built with lots of time and effort, only to witness its destruction again and again, is incredibly unbearable for us.

The situation has been worsened by travel brokers demanding Gazans who are trying to flee to Egypt to pay up to $10,000 per person. This exploitation has left members of my family stranded and with no way out for a while. For instance, we had to pay $16,000 to facilitate the travel of just two of my family members to Egypt.

Now, my family face the potential loss of our home and the burden of covering living expenses in Egypt. My father and brother both lost their jobs due to the ongoing war, and they haven't received their salary in nine months. The difficulty of my family's situation in Gaza and Egypt cannot be overstated. We need your generous support to help rebuild our home and help my family get back on their feet.

I would be extremely grateful if you could share our story with others on social media. Thank you for taking the time to read my family’s story and thank for your generous donations.

Kind regards,

Abdallah