Help Lama and her family to leave Gaza!

Hello wonderful people. My name is Ghada. I'm helping to raise money to get a former colleague out of Gaza. I lived and worked in Gaza for the UN from 2014-2017. While there, I worked with and befriended Lama.

Lama has family in the UAE, and they are desperate to leave Gaza. The UAE and Gaza are not places that GoFundMe can send funds to, so I'm helping to raise money here in the US to transfer the funds to Lama's family in Abu Dhabi.

Once Lama and her family exit to Egypt, they will go to Abu Dhabi to be with Lama's family there. To cross into Egypt, Egyptian authorities require $5,000 USD per person, an impossible amount of money. So, we are launching this fundraiser to help raise money to cover the exit fee for Lama, her husband, and their three children.

Below is a note from Aseel, Lama's sister.

My name is Aseel. I am fundraising to help my sister Lama, her husband and 3 children to get out of Gaza to Egypt as there is no other way to get out of Gaza other than the Rafah Crossing Border through Egypt.

On 7 October, the Palestinian armed group Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel. In response, Israel has declared war on Hamas, and launched an equally unprecented bloody offensive against Gaza, killing thousands of civilians and destroying residential buildings and public facilities. More than 21,100 Palestinians, most of them women and children, have been killed since October 7.

Nearly 2 million Palestinians, roughly 85 per cent of the total population, have been displaced from their homes, most of whom have headed towards Rafah, on the southern Gaza border with Egypt, or Deir Balah in the centre. Not even the claimed safe zones safe as these areas have been heavily targeted.

My sister Lama is currently sheltering in Al-Nusairat Camp in the centre of Gaza strip. Israel has already issued evacuation order for central Gaza including parts of Al-Nusairat Camp. Lama's family is expected to receive an evacuation order in 7-10 days and they have nowhere to shelter. The only option for them will be to shelter in a tent in cold weather with no access to bathrooms, heat, food, water, or even dry ground.

Unfortunately, as of the moment, people of Gaza are not allowed to go to Egypt unless they are dual nationals, leaving us with one option only, that is to pay 5000 USD per person to Egyptian authorities to approve Lama’s family request to go to Egypt. The funds will be used for that purpose. To save Lama, her husband Tariq and their 3 children Amal, Mohamed and Habiba to get out of Gaza. Lama and her family are civilians and have no relation whatsoever with any armed groups in Gaza.