Save the lives of my family in Gaza

My name is Nader Elkhuzundar. I am a Palestinian from Gaza. I consider myself privileged to have been able to move to the UK in 2012 to study my Masters. I have been living in London since. It never felt safe to return home to Gaza, the annual bombardment by the Israeli occupation in Gaza never stopped. I have not been able to go back to visit since 2012. In the past 9 weeks, most of my friends and cousins I grew up with have been murdered by the occupation. I have lost contact with my dad since the beginning of this war.

As the world is aware, the situation in Gaza has become horrific, with entire generations of families wiped out, 1.7 million displaced and the majority of homes in north Gaza severely damaged or destroyed. There is nowhere safe in Gaza anymore. Even in the so-called “safe zones”, schools and hospitals people seek refuge in are being targeted and Palestinians massacred.

My immediate family consists of my mother, my younger brother, my sister and her husband and their 2 children, my niece the youngest is 5 years old. They are all currently trapped in Gaza under constant bombing for over 66 days with their lives at risk.

After losing both our family home and my sister's home in Gaza City, my family were forced to flee to safety three times. They are all currently traumatised seeking refuge in a partially destroyed flat in the south of Gaza with extremely limited access to everyday needs including food, water and medicine. The Winter cold and rain is starting to get harsher. I have not been able to take any action to save the lives of my family from this seemingly unstoppable genocide which they have been forced to live through, hoping that no missile will find its way to them. I have been left worried and anxious for their safety, my heart is in Gaza with my family.

I am writing this asking for your support to help me to contribute whatever amount you are able, to save the lives of my family and get them to safety IMMEDIATELY, including my 5 and 7 year old nephew and niece whom I have never met in person. Over 20,000 Palestians in Gaza have been murdered by the Israeli occupation, with over 8,000 children murdered and 25,000 children orphaned. The Israeli occupation are merciless with whom they target and there is no ceasefire on the horizon. I am not ready to mourn my family.

Me and my sister in America are arranging for my family to safely get to Egypt via the Rafah border, from where they will hopefully come to the UK on a visit/tourist visa for 6 months. This visa does not permit visitors to work in the UK. In addition, none of my family members have any form of financial access or support since there aren’t any operational banks in Gaza at this time.

I have only been able to afford to cover the passage fees to Egypt for my mother and my brother. This came to £5,570 each and I need your support to afford to get the rest of the four members of my family out of Gaza too. We do not want our family to become forcibly separated. They will be able to stay in Egypt for a short period while the visa applications are processed. I have kindly been offered accommodation for them in Egypt, so that cost is not of concern at the moment. The fees I need support with is currently :

Safe passage to Egypt: £22,280 (£5,570 per person)

minimum living costs: £1200 (£200 per person)

Flight tickets to London will cost around £3,000 (£500 per person) (round trip-required for the visa).

Visa application fees: £690 (£115 per person)

Health insurance: £3,000 (£500 per person)

Flights from Cairo to London: £3,000 (£500 per person)

They will not be allowed to work under this visa, I estimate the costs of my family's stay in the UK will include:

• minimum living costs including rent in total for 6 months: £25,200. That’s £4200 per month (£700 per person per month).

• personal effects £2000

Total estimated costs leading up to arrival in Egypt is £23,480 for all family members. And an additional £32,090 for their stay in the UK.

Total amount to raise: 55,570

Of course if anyone kindly has a home available in London or the outskirts they would be happy to allow my family to stay in to support us, that would be highly appreciated and would cut the rent fundraising costs.