Evacuate the Abu Shammala family from Gaza

Dear Supporters,

With heavy hearts, we reach out to you seeking urgent assistance for our family trapped in Gaza. We are Haya and Maram, residing in Qatar and Turkey, consumed by concern for our loved ones facing unimaginable hardships back home.

The ongoing genocide has left our family in a state of despair. Forced to flee for their lives, our family abandoned everything they knew in Gaza City in the wake of the harrowing Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital Massacre, which occurred only a few hundred meters away from our home.

Displaced a couple of times, they first sought refuge in Khan Yunis then Rafah in southern Gaza. Among them are our parents, both in their 60s, battling chronic illnesses, including heart diseases and diabetes, without access to proper medical care. Our father has undergone major open-heart surgery, and his weakened body now is in constant need of vigilant medical attention. The thought of how our parents are coping with this is beyond our understanding.

Later, our parents were joined by our siblings, their spouses, and their children in their current refuge. "At least we're all together now", they often reassure us. Yet, we remain distant, unable to be there physically or emotionally for them. The looming fear of losing them all consumes every moment of our lives.

Our father, Fathi, a retired engineer, and our mother, Khitam, a retired teacher, dedicated their lives to building a loving home for us all. Now, they face dire circumstances, deprived of basic necessities for survival. Our siblings, Mohammed, Hadeel, and Hala, along with their spouses and children, are without jobs or sources of income, relying on dwindling resources to survive. Just like our parents, they were forced to leave their homes in Gaza City and escaped under heavy bombardment with little more than the clothes on their backs.

From right to left: our nephews and nieces Abdullah (8), Aboud (5), Shaam (8), Maram (8), and Hayam (5). In the background, our brother Mohammed is teaching his son Fathi (11) how to swim in the adult pool.

It breaks our hearts to witness the toll this crisis takes on our loved ones. Each passing day brings new challenges and greater peril, leaving them with nowhere to turn for safety, especially with the looming ground invasion on Rafah.

We urgently appeal to your generosity to assist us in our mission to evacuate our family to safety in Egypt. However, the costs associated with crossing the border are beyond our means. We need to raise $68,000 to cover evacuation expenses imposed by the Egyptian authorities and additional fees required by GoFundMe.

The funds will be distributed as the following:

1- Fees to be paid to the Egyptian authorities to register our family for travel ($5,000 per adult and $2,500 per child).

We will need to pay $62,500 as travel fees to the Egyptian authorities. Our family includes:

2- GoFundMe and transfer fees.

GoFundMe typically charges a platform fee of 2.9%, along with a $0.30 processing fee per donation. This means that the total fees deducted by GoFundMe from the raised funds will amount to approximately $3,000. Additionally, we need to consider transfer fees incurred until we withdraw the funds in cash and deliver them to Egypt to have our family registered for travel. For this purpose, we will need at least another $2,000.

In total, we will need to raise between $67,000 and $68,000.

Every donation, no matter the amount, will offer our family a lifeline to safety and help us reunite so that we can take care of them. Thank you for taking the time to read our plea. Your

compassion and generosity mean the world to us.

With heartfelt gratitude,

Haya and Maram