Donate to help Ghazi and his family to leave Gaza

Hello from the stricken Gaza to the people of the world and those with compassionate hearts.

My name is Ghazi Ali Mekawi. I study fourth-level laboratory medicine at Al-Azhar University. My family and I represent one peaceful family living in the Sheikh Radwan area in the Gaza Strip. Before the war, we were a happy family, although we lived in constant anxiety about unemployment and the difficulty of living.

Sleep was elusive, and thoughts of the next day and how to make ends meet were always on our minds. But after the war, sleep became an unsafe refuge, and thoughts revolved around whether we would survive to see the next day or perish like hundreds of our friends who were exterminated. We sleep and wake up, waiting for our turn in the endless waterfall of blood.

When the war on Gaza began on October 7, 2023, my relatives and uncles took refuge in our house, thinking that it was the safe house, and 5 days after their displacement to us, the occupation carried out a brutal and violent bombardment on the neighborhood next to us. On the morning of Friday, 10/13/2023, the Zionist occupation called my older brother, asking him to escape, evacuate all the buildings of the entire neighborhood, and head to the south of the Gaza Strip. It was very suspicious and scary and we didn't know where to turn. We had to evacuate. I had to flee with my family to a safe area, leaving behind my neighborhood, my home, my shops, my work, my memories, literally everything. We took refuge with our relatives in Al-Maghazi camp, and 12 days after we were displaced, on 10/25/2023, the occupation bombed the bakery opposite the house in which we were displaced, and I was injured in my foot. On the left side and an injury, my brother suffered minor burns to her face, and the house became partially destroyed, but it is the only shelter we have, so we restored what we could to live in the house as much as possible. On November 4, 2023, warplanes targeted the bakery after it was destroyed again. Thank God, none of us were injured, and nothing was done here. We were able to restore, but we cleaned and sat down because there was no other place, and on the morning of Wednesday, January 3, 2024, the occupation made a sudden ground entry into Al-Maghazi camp, and here we were surrounded and we could not leave the house. There was no water, food or any other necessities of life. We just sat and heard the sounds of shelling, bullets and missiles. We are waiting for our turn to come. Until Sunday morning, January 7, 2024, we miraculously managed to leave Al-Maghazi under bombardment and took refuge in Rafah. I had no one or relatives there, and we built a tent to shelter me and my family.

On May 28, 2024, we were displaced for the sixth time after nights and days of violent bombing on tents in Rafah’s Mawasi. They were displaced and we did not know where to run.

I cannot describe the situation adequately; I think you've seen enough on the Internet. I lost my home, my shops, my family's source of income, and I was left with nothing. I have lost many friends over the past four months. However, I feel nothing but complete helplessness and inability to help my family. The feeling of helplessness is humiliating and painful, as negative thoughts dominate your thoughts, such as thinking about suicide or wishing for death to escape this feeling. But here I am breathing again and thinking of positive solutions in the face of crushing death. I'm trying to cling to life.

I hope you will read the story from my perspective, from the perspective of a 22-year-old young man trying to save what is left of his family and himself. In the end, I wish eternal peace to prevail in this world, and for every being on this earth.

Your donations will help me and my family leave Gaza, complete education, and start building my future again. We need to pay at least 35 thousand US dollars to exit Gaza through Egypt. Every donation makes a difference.

Your friend,

Ghazi Ali Mekawi