Help Loai W. family from Gaza safely reunite again

Help Loai W. family from Gaza safely reunite again

“This situation is the culmination of a war on the entire population of the Gaza Strip—

a war of collective punishment,

a war without rules,

a war at all costs.

The laws and the principles we collectively depend on to enable humanitarian assistance are now eroded to the point of becoming meaningless [...]

Children who survive this war will not only bear the visible wounds of traumatic injuries but the invisible ones, too—those of repeated displacement, constant fear, and witnessing family members literally dismembered before their eyes. These psychological injuries have led children as young as five to tell us they would prefer to die.”

- Statement of Christopher Lockyear, Secretary General of Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) before the United Nations Security Council.

Please support this effort to evacuate my displaced family from Rafah in the Gaza Strip.

My name is Loai Wesam Ahmed, I’m a 31-year-old Palestinian from Gaza. I currently live in Washington DC. I have worked as a project coordinator and interpreter with international organizations in Gaza such as Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) and Save the Children. I was also a player for the Palestinian National Soccer Team. My work in the humanitarian sector and love of soccer urged me in 2015 to establish a soccer team and non-profit organization called Gaza Plays Peace to aid Gazan children with trauma and injuries. Our goal was to create safe places for children to play soccer, learn new skills, and have a sense of community. The children’s passion and commitment towards the game makes me believe that these beautiful, kind, intelligent kids of the Gaza Strip have enormous talents that qualify them to compete wherever they play. Thanks to my experience as a soccer coach in Gaza, I am now a soccer coach for the DC Youth Futbol Club (DCYFC), in the ages 8-15 division. I am also a proud son, brother and uncle. All my family are currently located in Gaza, and they have been through unimaginable horrors the last 4 months since the beginning of this war.

It is not easy for me to ask for the assistance of compassionate strangers. But I am bound by my duty to my family as peace-loving people to start this fundraiser to save the lives of my immediate family members. I am their only hope to leave from Gaza to Egypt. I am requesting your urgent help to evacuate my family from Gaza safely so we can all someday be all together again. I am asking you to help me ease my family’s suffering and abhorrent living conditions, and to help restore unconditional humanity and dignity to one Palestinian family. To help me place a meaningful distance between them and the incessant bombing, to save their very lives and futures.

The story of my family since the beginning of the war

I have nine immediate family members in Gaza. Those members are my parents, two brothers and my two sisters with their daughters (a total of three nieces). We are originally from North Gaza. They have lost everything due to the indiscriminate attacks on Gaza.

My family has been displaced to Rafah, as they have left everything behind them not knowing when or if they would ever be able to return. Gazan families are not allowed to carry anything with them, not even clothes, which has become yet another obstacle, since the winter season was about to start. My mother and father and my baby nieces walked for 12 hours with thousands of people through what was supposed to be a “safe passage” to the south. When my family arrived to the middle of the Gaza Strip, Israeli soldiers were stopping and searching people at checkpoints. The Israeli soldiers were detaining one woman from each family, and if a young man/woman heard their name getting called out by the soldiers, they must immediately leave the line and go with them to an open area. The soldiers took the men and stripped them of their clothes in front of all the women. My mother and brother Mohammed were taken and detained for 8 hours by the IDF soldiers, humiliated, and stripped of their dignity. They thankfully have been released, and continued their journey to Rafah, expected to make a home out of tents that leak and offer no protection from the dropping temperatures and other dangers that now lurk everywhere in Gaza.

My family are experiencing hell and death every minute of every day.

Two months after they were displaced to Rafah, on January, our family's home in the North was bombed, and our neighborhood area was destroyed. Only a few buildings are still standing there. The whole area was turned into rubble. The house we lived in for more than 24 years is gone and we're homeless now. Currently, there is no safe place for them to live or to go to, as they are sharing the tiny space with hundreds of thousands of people in their same situation.

Image from our destroyed house in Sheikh Radwan area, north Gaza. [January 2024]

A video shows the entire neighborhood and our house in the front, all destroyed and turned to rubble. [January 2024]

There is no clean water, no shelter, no jobs or money. My family is struggling to secure the basic needs and to merely survive. My nieces are currently sick because of cold and lack of nutrition.

I live in constant fear of my family getting killed. It is difficult to know right away if they are alive or dead due to the intensity of bombing and electricity cuts. There is no electricity, internet connection, fuel, water or food, which make the already dire health conditions even worse. I am terrified of losing my family any moment.

Highlights of incidents related directly to my family including extended cousins and uncles and friends:

● My family is from the north. On November 17th, the IDF bombed two buildings belonging to our uncles and cousins in Jabalia Camp, and they killed 42 children and women. Two weeks after that horrible massacre, they bombed my father’s uncle’s house, resulting in another 18 victims, three men - the rest are women and children.

An hour and a half trying to pull out 3 children and a woman from one our relatives’ homes. [Jabalia Refugee Camp, November 18th, 2023]

● Two neighboring schools were bombed, killing more than 150 people, injuring hundreds, most of them women and children.

● On December the 23rd, our cousins, their wives and children were bombed in Al-Maghazi camp, it resulted in the killing of 6 and 5 were injured. The injured women and children were bleeding for three hours until a vehicle was allowed to get them to another place to seek medical attention, not even the hospital.

Sabrin with her mom, and on the left, her son Ahmed, who were killed with their entire family. [June 2022]

Samar, Hala and Oday. Three beautiful children [Gaza Strip, 2022]

● Since mid-January, the rest of our families in the North are dying one by one because of starvation. They are eating animal food and rabbit grain food. They cannot find anything to eat, and no one were able to reach them. The North is a ghost area, an abject wasteland with no connection to the outside world.

● On January, we have confirmation that our family home of 24 years was completely destroyed. They attacked a total of 42 houses in the same neighbourhood at the same time.

Meet my immediate family

● My father, Wesam Ahmed. My father is a nurse who worked in Gaza for more than 35 years and he is still serving wounded people in tents and clinics in Rafah area. My father loves his family so much, and he is still struggling to secure food and water for the family. Despite all that, he still feels the responsibility to help those in need. He once said to me “Son, life is a journey and those who are afraid of adventures will regret. You need to go out in this world and learn languages. Life is too short to spend it in one place.”

A picture below, my father volunteering in Shaboora clinic in Rafah – despite the war. [February 16th, 2024]

● My mother, Eman. Mom is a great chef and a fantastic Yoga teacher. Mom takes care of her family and is the coordinator of the Gaza Plays Peace soccer team. In addition, she teaches Yoga and she believes that sports are the key to success and a strong social fabric. My mother is now suffering from breathing problems because of the white phosphorus and the chemical substances. She is struggling to find a clean place or a clean toilet. Mom says to me over the phone “Son, they keep saying to us, evacuate the place. First, were were displaced from North of Gaza to the South. Now, they are saying evacuate Rafah. But, WHERE TO?”

My beloved mother with a smile that can light up a room! [March 2022]

● My sister, Reham (27 years old). Reham is an Arabic teacher. She graduated with two bachelor’s degrees in Arabic Language and Arabic literature. She has a 5-year-old daughter named Rafeef. My sister lost her house and now is displaced with the rest of myin Rafah. My sister loves languages and to read poems and stories. She worked for a Christian school for two years as an Arabic teacher. Reham was named the teacher of the year in that school. She is loved and always smiling. She says “I was happy to work as a teacher even for free. Teaching is not for everyone, as it needs those who enjoy it minute by minute.”

My sister Reham in between her favorite Olive trees. [November 2022]

● My sister, Elham (25 years old). Elham is a lawyer who also lost her house. Elham is married with two beautiful twin daughters, Ayla and Aylool. She graduated and worked as case manager in one of the non-profit organizations. Her work was focused on helping women and girls to engage in the society, and to raise awareness about women’s rights. Elham said “All our memories and houses are gone! What can we do for our kids, they have suffered unimaginable pain and insecurity. They have taken everything in our lives, can we at least let our kids live!?”

A picture of my sister Elham, our lawyer. [August 2021]

● My brother, Mohammed (23 years old). Mohammed is both my brother and friend; due to our large age gap, I took him under my wings as a mentee. He is an elite soccer player, soccer coach, occupational therapist. Mohammed is crazy and passionate about soccer. Mohammed as many other Gazans have seen death stare directly into his eyes and will see death if he stays in Gaza. He and my youngest brother Omar are both responsible for securing food, water and wood for cooking. They walk many miles a day every day to get some food that is barely enough for 9 people. Mohammed once said “It was always a dream to play soccer outside Gaza. I know that I can shine, but how can we leave this prison?”.

My brother Mohammed with his Gaza plays Peace soccer team to coach. [March 2023]

● My brother, Omar (15 years old). Omar is the youngest brother, and he is supposed to be in high school right now, but there are no schools or streets. Omar is a great soccer player, and he has the kindest heart. He is so loved by his family, neighbors, friends and even cats! When he was a kid, he would always follow me to the playground. And while I am playing, he looked at me with a smile that says “I am happy to watch you play and I am going to be like you one day.” Omar told me two weeks ago “My dear brother, Habibi. I cannot stand the idea that I have lost seven friends, they bombed our house, and I cannot see my cousins. We are crushed. We need you!” Tears over tears over tears...

My brother Omar. He has the kindest soul. This picture is in front of our house, which is destroyed now! [September 2022]

● My niece, Rafeef (5 years old). Rafeef means “heartbeat” in Arabic. She is our first grandchild, and she is our special baby. She has the biggest heart in the world, and she loves her grandma so much. Just before the war, Rafeef had started kindergarten. She was so excited to wear her uniform and to see her friends at school. Rafeef now is homeless with no Kindergarten to go to, or any friends play with. Rafeef on a call with me last week, she said “Uncle, I want to get on that big plane and come see you. I am scared. They are killing everyone, they killed my friend Asala. Ana Bahb Asala!”

This is Rafeef, just a week before the war. She just started her first year in KG and she was excited to meet new friends and learn. [September 2023]

o Ayla is very smart and loves cats and makeup. Her dream in life is to become an ice cream (yes, you read that right, ice cream). She also loves to dance to Egyptian music. She is the comedian of our family who would brighten your mood no matter what. She said to her grandma a few days ago “I have had enough Taita (Grandma nickname), they bombed our house and your house, all my toys and make-up are gone. I am so sad, Kooty (The turtle). She died scared!”

o Aylool on the other hand is more serious and is also our protector. She is always there for her sister, and she always wants fried chicken. I heard her voice two weeks ago and she was telling me “I miss my grandma and grandpa (Her Father’s parents), all of them are far away. I want this war to end.”

The twins, Ayla and Aylool dressed up for Alfitr Eid [April 21st, 2023]

All my family members, especially my nieces, need clothes, medicine and better nutrition. She has been weak the past two months because of no decent food.

The three nieces in a picture in the destroyed area where they stay in Rafah. At least, they love each other so much!

In order to facilitate my family's evacuation to Egypt, I'm setting up a fundraising campaign to raise $60,000. Here is the breakdown of the funds:

A. Crossing fees: It is estimated that the cost of crossing fees range from $5,000 to $7,000 USD per adult and $2500 USD for children under 12. There are 9 family members, three are under 12 years old. (5,000 x 6) + (2,500 x 3) = $37,500 on the low end and $42,000 for the higher end

B. Other fees: Transportation, accommodation and food for the upcoming months until they are settled (rent, food, clothing and medicine for 9 people) (estimate of $2,000 USD a month).

Any donation, no matter how small, will make a significant difference to the safety of my family. We'll use the money raised in a transparent and efficient way to make sure every dollar goes to keeping them safe.

Thanks for your support, and I'm grateful for any help you can give during this difficult time. The funds raised will help give my family another opportunity to live.

Help me reach my goal and provide safety for my family by sharing this campaign with your friends, family, and colleagues.