A source of light amid total darkness

My name is Ahmed Alagha. I am a Palestinian from Gaza, based in the UK.

Having exhausted all other avenues, I am now turning to this platform and humbly reaching out to you for support to help me contribute in whatever way I can to save the lives of my immediate family members.

I have 16 beloved individuals in my immediate family trapped in Gaza: my father, my mother, my two brothers, my sister, my eight nieces and nephews, my two sisters-in-law, and my brother-in-law. I also have another sister who has managed to flee to Egypt with her husband who holds an Egyptian passport (there's a section at the bottom of this page with more information about me and my family).

I am on a mission to find a temporary safe place for them to flee to. However, all possible routes come at a cost that I can't afford. I have already been sending my savings and part of my salary every month so they can buy the basic necessities to survive, if available, at extremely inflated prices.

I am seeking to raise £84,460 (Great British Pound) to facilitate a secure passage for my family, allowing them to relocate to a safe country (most likely Egypt) where they can find refuge for the next 12 months. This critical period will not only offer them a respite from the current turmoil but also provide them with an opportunity to rebuild our homes once the war concludes and the situation in Gaza stabilises. In addition, my father has been suffering from severe pain due to a hernia which requires immediate medical treatment that is not available in Gaza at the moment.

I understand the hardships faced by the 2.3 million Gaza residents, and it weighs heavily on me to seek assistance when so many are enduring similar struggles. Yet, my current priority is the safety and well-being of my family, and your support holds the power to bring about a profound and positive change in their lives.

The situation in Gaza remains uncertain, terrifying, and dangerous. Your support means the world to my family and me. My promise is this: if the war is put to an end or evacuation becomes impossible or impractical for any/some/all of my family members for any reason, all your funds will go to support my family to live a dignified life in Gaza.

Please donate and share the campaign with your network. Words cannot express how grateful I am for all of your support. Thank you. I will keep you updated on this site about my family’s situation, and I hope I will be able to unite with them again through your kind support.

A detailed breakdown of the expenses is provided below for transparency.

With my deepest gratitude,

Ahmed

>>> Breakdown of expenses <<<

• Passport fees: £125 per person.

• Fees to exit Gaza through the Rafah crossing:  

  $5,000 per adult and $2,500 per child under 16 

  (exiting Gaza is facilitated through the “Hala”

  company, which is based in Egypt and charges 

  these amounts).

• Fees to rent one apartment in Egypt: £500/month 

  (2 apartments are needed to accommodate 16 

  members of my family over 12 months).

• Living expenses: £1000/month (£62.5/person).

• Fee for the Hernia operation for my dad: £3000.

• Fees for private schools for 4 of my nieces and 

  nephews: £1500 each/year (as my nieces and 

  nephews are not Egyptian nationals, they are not 

  eligible to be enrolled in public schools. Going to a 

  private school is their only chance at receiving an 

  education).

• GoFundMe fees: the website deducts 2.9% +  

  £0.25 automatically from each donation, which 

  roughly accounts for £2460 (3% of the sum of the 

  above expenses).

If you want to know more about me and my family and how the blockade and now the war has affected our lives, please keep reading...

Since I was a little child, my dad used to call me Ahmed “the engineer”, which in a way made me love engineering. I was always curious about how to fix things, how buildings are built, how machines operate, and how roads and infrastructure are constructed. I had a dream that one day I would lead the development of the infrastructure in my country, which was also a dream that my dad hoped I would realise one day. In August 2023, I obtained a PhD degree in Engineering from the University of Cambridge. My mum and dad, my siblings, my whole family, and my friends could not be more proud. This was supposed to be a major milestone towards achieving my ambitious goal(s). Sadly, I have not been able to see them or celebrate this milestone with them. Everything has been turned upside down with the continuous destruction and elimination of Palestinian homes, universities, schools, hospitals, museums, cultural centres, and infrastructure in Gaza since 7th October 2023.

Among these destroyed homes is my family home, which has been partially destructed and made unliveable. The home that my dad saved every penny to build from scratch, the home that I grew up in with lots of memories, hopes, and adventures. Moreover, my sister’s home has been fully destroyed, and the flats where my two brothers used to live with their families have been made unliveable. We have lost everything.

Due to the imposed blockade on Gaza, I was unable to visit my family in the 5+ years I have been living in the UK. In March 2022, I finally managed to visit them after planning it for 6 months. Even though there was a chance of me getting trapped in Gaza which would have delayed my progress with my PhD, I eagerly wanted to visit so I could attend my youngest brother’s wedding. I had already missed my youngest sister’s wedding, which had taken place the year before. I did not tell anyone that I was visiting as I wanted to surprise my family. And I did. I managed to arrive just a day before the wedding. Everything went well, it was the most cheerful period of my life: I saw my loved ones after a long time of deprivation, particularly my little nieces and nephews who were born while I was abroad. I spent a lot of time with my family, ate a lot of delicious food that I had missed, met with old friends, visited so many beautiful places, and had a lot of fun with my nieces and nephews. I also managed to spend the first few days of Ramadan 2022 in Gaza, which I had missed a lot while living in the UK.

When I was leaving Gaza to come back to the UK, I could not have fathomed that those experiences would only survive as memories: that the places I visited would be erased, that all of our homes would be destroyed, and most tragically that so many of my friends would be killed.

Me and my brother (Mohammed) on his wedding day.

Having fun with my nieces and nephews during my 2022 visit.

One of the last pictures we took at my sister’s (Esraa) home during Ramadan 2022 which has now been fully destroyed.

My brother’s (Numan) home before and after the destruction.

The last picture taken with some of my family at 2am on the day of my departure. We had to wake my father up for the picture but we could not do this with the other kids who were asleep. This is our home, which is now severely destructed.

Pictured here is some of the destruction of our home.

Two weeks ago my cousin Hatem, who was also a very close friend of mine, was killed by random Israeli shooting in the place where my family and my uncle’s family are sheltering. He was killed in front of his 6-year-old son, his wife, his mum, my parents, and my siblings and their kids. It was then that I knew I had to do something to help my family. I dread to even think of the horror and the trauma they have experienced so far and the toll of witnessing my cousin’s death has taken on them. With the situation getting worse and worse, in addition to living under constant bombardment, people are being starved to death. This situation will be exacerbated even more if an attack on Rafah takes place. The scale of the catastrophe would be unimaginable. I cannot even think of my family going through this, they have already gone through a lot of horror, and they have miraculously escaped death so far.

Thank you for helping me and my family. Words cannot express how much this means to me.

With deepest gratitude,

Ahmed