Help Amani and her children survive the genocide in Gaza

My name is Walaa Alqaisiya, a Palestinian academic, and I am reaching out to you on behalf of my friend, Amani Eid, who is striving to survive in Gaza. Due to the geographic limitations and restrictions on GoFundMe in Gaza, I am stepping in to help launch this campaign. Every donation will go directly to Amani, supporting her children. Your contribution, no matter how small, can make a significant difference in her life.

Below is Amani's story:

My name is Amani Eid, and I am the mother of 5 children, and the primary caretaker of 5 other children whose mother (my own sister-in-law) was recently killed during this genocide.

Before the war the beauty of our life derived from its simplicity and its relative normality, despite the suffocating siege. Since the start of the genocide our life has turned upside down and sheer survival has become a daily challenge, my son Mohammed (16 years old) has had an eye injury and suffers from corneal laceration and his vision is weakening day-by-day. His situation requires medical care and a specific type of eye medication, which is not easy to get in Gaza because of the ongoing war. My youngest Fahad is only 2 years old and due to the trauma of living under constant bombardment, he has speech delay problems. Our life has become a living hell, there are food and water shortages, and the little food we find on the market is extremely expensive. Due to lack of gas and electricity outage, I must rely on making a fire with any material, including toxic ones, that we manage to find to burn. In July 2024, the bombing intensified and there was a huge massacre in Nuseirat area, which forced us to run away from our home. The drones were shooting at us as we ran away joining the thousands of displaced people, and we had to walk on foot for kilometres in search of safety. In the tents, we lived in horrible conditions, sewage was everywhere around the tents and my son Mohammad developed a psychological condition from all the dead corpses that he had to see.

After that we returned to our house, but we found a huge part of it destroyed from the shelling (the kitchen was completely torn, all the windows completely shattered, even the water tanks destroyed). Despite that, I decided to clean the house and stay in it with my children. In October 2024 my dear sister in law, mother of 5 children, was killed by Israeli drone bombing that targeted her and two of her children on the way to the local clinic.

Luckily, the two children accompanying her did not die. However, they sustained critical injuries. Her eldest son, Yazan (13 years old), lives with injuries in the liver and the head. Her daughter Lana is 4 years old, and she was injured in the leg and is still recovering. Her youngest is barely 1 year old and requires formula milk that is very hard to find in Gaza. All these motherless children are now my responsibility, and I am struggling to provide them with all the necessities they require to survive this ugly endless war. Every house around us has been targeted, everywhere around us reeks of death and suffering. Many of our beloved neighbours remain stuck under the rubble with no decent burial. We saw body remains being eaten by stray dogs. The horrors that we continue to live and endure are unspeakable and we do not wish them upon any living human being. Life has become very expensive, and prices of staples and basic commodities have skyrocketed. One small pack of diapers is $25, one small pack of baby formula is $20, vegetables and hygiene products are very costly which makes them nearly impossible to afford.

We do not wish neither to leave our home nor Gaza. We believe in steadfastness despite all the horrors they inflict. I ask of you to pray for us and to help me in whatever amount you can to feed and care for these children. There are days where I must bake rotten flour for them and nights where I must rely on contaminated water to make them a semblance of a soup.

With deep gratitude,

Amani