Help Yousef and his elderly parents get out of Gaza

I'm collecting funds for my friend Yousef El Qedra so he and his parents, Sobhi (65yo) and Fakhriya (64yo), can get out of Gaza to safety.

عم بنجمع تبرّعات لصديقنا يوسف القدرة عشان يخرج هو وأباه وأمه المسنّين من غزة

J'organise une collecte de dons pour mon ami Yousef pour que lui et ses parents, Sobhi (65 ans) et Fakhria (64 ans), puissent quitter la bande de Gaza.

هيك يوسف بيحكي عن حالاتهم :

"بعد ٥٢ يوم من الاحتجاز، قضاها والدي في تعذيب، مقيد اليدين، والقدمين، ومغمى العينين، عاد متعبا، بعد الافراج عنه، ليجدنا في خيمة، جانب البحر، حيث البرد الشديد طوال الشهور الماضية، والحر الشديد الذي بدأ من أيام،

عاد متعبا وازداد تعبه بعدما زار ركام البيت وقد صار كل ما يملك حطام، وكذلك امي المريضة، التي مرت أيام الحرب دون وجود للأدوية الضرورية للأمراض المزمنة.

حالاتهما تحتاج إلى هدوء وسكينة ومتابعة صحية.

يحتاج خروجهما إلى تنسيق معبر رفح، وللأسف هذا "التنسيق" يحتاج إلى مبلغ مالي كبير، كلي أمل أننا معا يمكننا أن نجد سبيلا إلى خلق وقت من سلام.

They've been moving from shelter to shelter for months, unable to return to their home which has been bombed and damaged. When they moved to Rafah, Yousef's father refused to follow and stayed behind, in the Red Crescent hospital in Khan Younes where they had been sheltering. When the Israeli military took over the neighborhood, Yousef's father was arrested and disappeared.

The family didn't get a sign of life for almost two months, and when he reappeared they heard of his plight in detention, restrained and blindfolded. They're still strained between Rafah and Khan Younes, and with the growing uncertainty and continuing humanitarian crisis the situation has become unbearable for them.

Here is how Yousef speaks of their urgent need to leave the strip :

"After 52 days of detention, that my father spent tortured, both hands and feet restrained, blindfolded, he returned exhausted after his release to find us in a tent, next to the sea, where the freezing cold of past months started to give way to unbearable heat a few days ago.

He returned exhausted and his exhaustion increased after he visited the rubbles of our house, everything he owned reduced to junk. Same goes of my sick mother, who spent each day of the war without the medicine she needs for her chronic diseases.

Their condition requires calm, quiet and medical supervision.

Their exit needs coordination at the Rafah crossing, and sadly this “coordination” costs a large sum of money. My only hope is that together we can find a way to create some peaceful time for ourselves."

Yousef's youngest sister, his parents' last child, was killed along with her husband, their 2 years old daughter Marwa and their unborn child in October. Yousef wrote about it here :

https://raseef22.net/english/article/1095605-memoirs-from-gaza-thats-my-younger-sister-sleeping-in-a-mass-grave (English)

https://raseef22.net/author/1075502-%D9%8A%D9%88%D8%B3%D9%81-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A9?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1RXnjReOzarB-ikXEi2G_Dot9gk5k7g36u7kfD6m_5qfitzJbAHep4Afw_aem_ATu0PdjS_5LfEJgdiYeS4Nr6LUHLkcF_ZpxbXqkgOECzTq794Fcmt1xJo_ehK7VuKrCGzfLbXnQaDCicBBjcMwZ4 (the original Arabic)

The Egyptian company in charge of organising passage from Gaza to Egypt charges 5000$ per adult. Added to the passage fees and travel to Cairo it amounts to an estimated 6,300$ per person, 18,900$ for 3.

To this I'm adding at least 5,000$ for living expenses in Cairo, including medical care.

Finally Gofundme takes 2,9% of the total amount raised and 0,30cts per donation, for an estimated total of at least 1380$ in this case.

Thus we hope to raise at least 25,280$, but more would help as the funds will need to be brought in dollars, in cash and in person to the company in Cairo in compliance with their (unwritten) policy.

As dollars are very hard to come by in Egypt at the moment due to the currency crisis, I will most likely have to bring the funds to Egypt myself. This is why the amount specified is 25,000 euros to try to account for fees that are hard to estimate : withdrawal, conversion to dollar and/or transfer if by then it is a realistic option.

Please donate and share widely so we can get Yousef and his parents to safety as soon as possible! Thank you for reading and please don't hesitate to reach out to me if you have any inquiry about the specifics of the fundraiser :)