Help get Heba Zagout's surviving family members to safety

Photo above of Heba and her two sons, Adam and Mahmoud, all since deceased. Next to Heba is her sister Maha and her child, Ibrahim. Maha and Ibrahim are still alive and trying to evacuate.

On October 13th 2023, Heba Zagout — a beloved artist, activist and mother — was killed when an airstrike targeted and eviscerated her home. The attack also claimed the lives of two of Heba’s sons, and destroyed all of their belongings, including most of Heba’s beautiful artwork. Heba is survived by many family members including her husband and two remaining children, her siblings, their spouses, and their children, as well as her elderly mother. Today, we are fundraising for the urgent and immediate evacuation of her remaining family. Please join us in supporting them in escaping the constant bombardment of violence, suffering and loss.

This fundraising goal accommodates the safe evacuation of the remaining family, leaving them with the capacity to shoulder the living expenses necessary to survive this necessary but difficult relocation. As Heba's sister Maysaa said, "Gaza is our home and we will always love it, it is just simply impossible to stay alive here any longer."

The timing for these evacuations is incredibly urgent. Many people have died while waiting for the funds needed to support their evacuation. This race against time is further exacerbated by the impending closure of the border, and threats of a ground invasion. This would mean that at that point, the only feasible means of evacuating into Egypt could be shut down with no assurance of reopening.

Registering and evacuating families from Gaza is not a straightforward process. The price for evacuation requires constant monitoring and varies based on gender as well as age. The instability of these prices and other factors makes the process nearly impossible to afford for many Gazans. These horrifying circumstances have forced Palestinians to undertake the unfathomable and haggle over the price of their own lives. In an effort to relieve the Zagout family of this distressing reality, we are partnering with Project Watermelon and Safebow, who will facilitate the registration and extraction of the Zagout family. They also provide food, clothing, housing, and more once people cross the border. Both groups aim to maintain transparency across their work, and we will use every dollar raised here to enable them to get the family out to safety.

Heba's sister Maysaa is also an artist, and we are working with her and the rest of her family to coordinate this effort. We are a New York-based group of organizers from museummuseum and INCITE PF who have personal relationships with the Zagout family and are helping them with this request. Your donations will help evacuate the remaining members of the Zagout family.

Heba was robbed of her share in life. Join us in ensuring that the rest of her family does not meet the same fate.

Photo from a family day at Gaza Beach, before the bombardment began.

Note from Maysaa:

"Imagine that you are living in your home safely with 7 of your children— you go to work at a primary school to teach Art to students, and suddenly your whole life is upended and you lose your job, your home, part of your family, and your entire feeling of safety in your homeland... Imagine sleeping without a home and without proper food... this is our situation today in Gaza. Hello world, My name is Maysaa Zagout—I am a visual artist and educator, and the sister of martyr artist Heba Zagout, who was killed on October 13th along with two of her children. My family and I are living in a nightmare, no human being should be subjected to such atrocities. Our friends abroad have generously provided help but the need increases and the situation grows more dire each day. I hope this message reaches you all and you are able to help my children, Heba’s surviving sons, and the rest of my family survive this besiegement and find safety in Egypt soon. Gaza is our home and we will always love it, it is just simply impossible to stay alive here any longer. Thank you for your time and considerations in helping the Zagout family."