Death chases my family in Gaza; help me save them

People say: "Family always comes First," and to that, I say: "Amen!".

Dear free lovers and supporters of Palestine!

This is Mahmoud Khalaf, a PhD student in Ireland, from Gaza.

With a broken fear-stricken heart, I am voicing an urgent plea for help in getting my family out of the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, which turned into the most unlivable ghost city in history because of the war.

It breaks their hearts to pieces to even think about evacuating from Gaza where they have lived their entire lives and have had unnumberable beautiful memories. Throughout the six months of the ravaging war in Gaza, the 8 members of my family have been displaced four times in the Gaza Strip seeking every avenue to escape imminent death. At one time, my family barely escaped death when sniper bullets hit the house where they sought refuge, and thank God no one of the children was injured. The children and adults alike had to crawl on the floor to move from one room to another to minimize the risk of getting a bullet in the head or chest. They saw flashbacks before their eyes from their journey in life and thought: "This is the end. Here is where everyone in this family dies." I am always sick worried about the children and thinking: "Should not they be playing football or hide and seek instead of trying to hide from Israeli sniper bullets?"

Being out of Gaza while hell breaks loose there shatters my heart to pieces, especially that I see all the heart-wrenching photos and videos of the massacre in Gaza. The scariest scene of all is when people desperately try to dig out entire families from under the rubble of their house. I cannot help but imagine that could happen to my family any second as there isn't a single safe place in Gaza now. See pictures taken by my family in Gaza.

See a video below recorded by my family when a nearby house was viciously bombed shaking the house and the heart of all my family members.

However, I will not save a breath in trying to protect my family and secure a joyous prosperous future for our children. With your generous donations, my family will leave famine, death, and destruction in Gaza and get into Egypt hopefully temporarily until the war is over. The Egyptian authorities require 5000 dollars for each adult individual who wants to get into Egypt and half that amount from children. The money will be used for the coordination fees with the Egyptian Hala travel agency to get my family to safety in Egypt. The remainder of the money will be used for daily supplies and living expenses in Egypt.

With your generous donations, they have a better chance of escaping death and enjoying the safety for which they've dearly longed for six months.

Your help restores our hope in humanity and goodness in people.

Your help saves lives!