Help this young Gazan family to rebuild their home

Young couple and parents of two in Gaza - their rented home destroyed as well as their new home obliterated in the space of two days!

Both teachers, got married during Covid lockdown; building their careers and young family - a daughter 'Doosha' aged 3 years and a son 'Asoom' now aged 4 months (yes, he was born in late Nov 2023). They used to live in a modest rented flat and saved enough to pay the deposit for a flat of their own in the building directly opposite theirs. They were due to move in at the end of Oct 2023 when the new building would have just about completed the final build, and had been looking forward to starting decorating, furnishing the new home and moving out of the old one... when suddenly the catastrophe of 07-Oct happened and their lives were turned upside-down - irrevocably.

The young family were forced to flee to the relative safety of her sister's home further south. Their rented flat was shortly after damaged when the building took an indirect hit. Five months later, the situation in the South changed for the worse and the young family were forced to move closer to their own original neighbourhood in the Nuseirat Refugee Camp. They had not been able to go back to their rented flat even to collect personal belongings but they had reports from others that although the building had sustained damage, it was still largely intact. They also knew that the brand-new building directly opposite (where the new flat was purchased) was only lightly damaged and would be habitable as soon as a meaningful ceasefire could happen. They prayed for the neighbourhood to be spared further bombardment and every day yearned for the day they could return.

Sadly, earlier this week (on 16-Apr-2024) they received reports that the old building (where they had rented the flat) had taken a direct missile hit and was largely flattened as a result. All their personal belongings - furniture, clothes, children's toys, kitchen appliances - in fact, everything was buried beneath the rubble of a once four-storey building.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, the very next day they received further devastating news - that the new building opposite was hit overnight and utterly destroyed beyond recognition!

TWO homes were destroyed in two days. Their lives are seemingly to be recalibrated to point zero with very few realistic prospects of starting again. As teachers, their salaries stopped months ago, and what little savings they had after ploughing into paying upfront for the new home have been depleted. Quite apart from seeing with their own eyes the physical devastation of their home reduced to rubble and contorted iron bars within blocks of concrete, there is something far, far more alarming - the psychological impact of losing everything they worked for and the shattered dreams they held.

They need OUR help. This is the story of one young family - there are many, many more such stories of heartache - but this family is personally known to me. I can vouch for their impeccable character and the depth of their suffering that they continue to endure - with stoicism and hope.

The least I can do is ask for help on their behalf. This is why I have set up this fundraising appeal on here on GoFundMe and I will publicise it through social media and direct contacts among friends in a bid to reach out as widely as I can.

Please consider donating to a very real and personally verifiable cause that could begin to make a difference in the lives of a young family in Gaza.

My name is Zuber Hatia and I live in Hampshire (UK) - a father of three myself and I'm a Management Consultant by profession. I know the couple in the photo/story very well - Umm Osama is the same age as my own daughter and I know well the impact the devastation has had on her family. I will be responsible for collecting all donations into my UK bank-account and I give every donor my solemn undertaking to deliver the final collected amount in full to Abu- and Umm Asoom. You are free to contact me with any questions, queries you have or clarifications you need and I will do my best to respond.

The 'old' building where they had a rented flat - destroyed.

The 'new' building where they had bought a flat and had been decorating, furnishing etc - they were due to move on 29-Oct-2024 when Umm Asoom was 8 months pregnant.

Abu Asoom looking at what was once Doosha's bedroom.

Young Doosha perched on the remains of what would have been her new home.