Help Kareem and his family in Gaza

Hello,

I am organizing this fundraiser to help Kareem and his family, who have been displaced multiple times during the aggression on the Gaza strip. Kareem is 22, and his family includes his parents (50 and 53), a brother (19) and a sister (17).

Here is Kareem’s story, in his own words:

My name is Kareem, I am 22 years old, from Palestine, from Gaza City. I will tell you my story and I swear to God that it is true and I will not lie and I will be held accountable for what I say.

I lived in a modest house with my family. We were homeless. Praise be to God, we suddenly woke up to the destruction of my home, my home that I finished building and furnishing two weeks before the war began, and I am not happy about it.

My home was bombed by the Israeli occupation, and we were displaced from our homes to head to the shelter centers in Khan Yunis. Then we lived there for two months in the shelter school. I swear to God that we haven’t recovered from the humiliation and we were in a very difficult situation. After we used to sleep on the bed and cover ourselves with blankets, we now slept on the floor. Our backs hurt, and in the cold weather, we could find nothing to warm me except a little, and I used to give it to my siblings.

We lived for two months with fatigue and fear increasing day after day, until we were displaced for the second time, to an apartment for which we paid four times the rent.

I lived there with 10 members of my family. One day I was eating lunch and heard the sound of bombing next to the apartment. He came out and saved us from death.

Then we migrated to the city of Rafah, where most of the people of Gaza live. I swear to God, we slept in the street that day because there was no place or tent for us, and the next day we collected a small amount of money, which we did not have. We made a nylon tent that will not protect us from the cold of winter. I swear to you that yesterday there was heavy rain and wind that caused rainwater to leak inside the tent.

We also suffer from a lack of money because prices have become very high, as the purchase price of items has become 4 times its original price.

NOTE:

As of November 20th, 2024, 10.087 euros have been raised, of which 373.35 were spent on GoFundMe transaction fees. Since February (when the fundraiser was started), Kareem has received around 9000 euros (some still being currently processed), which was spent on his family’s survival, including multiple displacements (details can be found in the updates).

NOTE:

Originally, Kareem was fundraising for his family’s evacuation. As the crossing has been closed for months, the money that was raised for that goal had to be spent on his family’s survival. He still wants to be able to get them to safety, once that becomes a possibility.

COST BREAKDOWN:

Food: 〜 1,240 USD per month

Water: 〜 200 USD per month

Cooking gas: 〜 200 USD per month

Sanitary products: 〜 100 USD per month

Energy: 〜 35 USD per month

TOTAL: 〜 1,775 USD per month (approx. 1682 EUR with the current exchange rate)

Covering monthly expenses for 5 months (up to March 2025) would amount to 8,875 USD (approx. 8409 EUR)

+ 700 USD to pay back money borrowed from friends, used to buy wood, tarps and nylon to repair Kareem’s family’s tent.

+ Evacuation costs for 5 people: 20,000 USD

Total: 29,575

Gofundme fees: 〜 1183

TOTAL: 30,758 USD (approx. 29,142 EUR)