Urgent! building a new life for the family

My name is Alaa, I am a Palestinian mother of two children: Maria and Hamza, as well as a wife and daughter. Until last October, I was living a regular, stable life with my husband, children, immediate family, and in-laws.

After 7th of October, my life turned upside down due to the war on Gaza. On the night of October 28th, the neighborhood we lived in Gaza – the neighborhood where my children grew up and where we started our family – was completely bombed.

Unfortunately, the bombing was severe, and snipers were targeting anyone attempting to leave their homes. A neighboring house was bombed, and our house was severely damaged. We were trapped inside, and my husband, children, and I were rescued from under the rubble and shattered glass. That night, my children and I witnessed unimaginable things – from casualties to bloodshed and bodies.

The suffering didn't end there. We fled to my husband's sister's house in the Rimal neighborhood, which was considered a safe area at the time. However, we were not spared from the intense bombing and continuous airstrikes. As evening approached, the bombing intensified in the area, and the smell of gunpowder from nearby houses being bombed spread. We lost our ability to see clearly and had difficulty breathing, so I had to put wet masks on my children's faces in a desperate attempt to protect them.

Their screams and fear didn't stop. I didn't know if we would survive. I held them close, trying to calm them, while sadness crushed my heart. I can't forget the first words of my three-year-old son Hamza when he started speaking about war-related terms like bombings, rockets, and tanks.

Goods became scarce and expensive. My husband tried every possible way to provide something to feed our children, from weeds growing in the ground to bread made from animal feed.

Eventually, we were forced to flee to the south, the supposedly safe haven that turned out to be otherwise. Rafah was overcrowded with displaced people, and we could only find a small tent lacking the necessities of life. My children suffered from epidemics and skin diseases caused by the pollution in the camp. Unfortunately, my little daughter Maria was infected with viral hepatitis due to the shared bathrooms in the camp.

After miraculously escaping death with my children, I realized there was no safe haven in Gaza. With multiple displacements, we faced the harsh reality of lacking basics like water, food, and medicine, and the inability even to perform basic activities like bathing, eating, or accessing clean water.

We lost everything: our home, our jobs, our dreams. My biggest worry is for Hamza and Maria, their future is uncertain. Where will they live, study, and grow up? Gaza offers little hope now, as the essentials of life are being destroyed. My children's future seems bleak, overshadowed by uncertainty.

Today, I ask for your help. I ask for support for me and my children to recover from the traumas of the war we experienced. To have a new warm home for my family, to help my children go to school and get decent education, and to assist us in starting our lives anew. To live from the beginning once again.

Your support is our hope and our future for a new chance in life for my children. Thank you for being a part of restoring hope and stability in our lives.