Fathi’s Story

Just 9 or so months ago, Fathi was living life like most 20-year-olds. He had received scholarships to attend college and was planning to study engineering. He had a bright future ahead, a beautiful home, lots of friends, and a loving, supportive family. But then, the bombs began to fall on Gaza, crumbling not just buildings, but the lives and hopes of an entire generation. Fathi's university, along with every other university in all of Palestine, was completely demolished. He has lost family, many friends, teachers, and neighbors. His family's home, all their belongings, their car, and their careers were all destroyed by occupation bombs.

Fathi and his many younger siblings, along with his parents, were forced to flee with nearly nothing left, displaced all the way from the north down to Rafah. After the occupation later began entering and attacking the safe zones in Rafah, his family was displaced again to Khan Yunis. Each time during displacement, Fathi must carry what supplies, bedding, materials, food, clothes, and items that his whole family has left, including all of the children's clothes, sometimes dozens of miles in the blazing heat. His mother and father must walk incredibly long distances that take significant tolls on their health and well-being. Buying transportation between displacements is incredibly expensive and difficult to find.

Now displaced yet another time, the area they are now in is completely destroyed - an entire city turned to piles of building rubble. Fathi and his family have no shelter, no tent, no electricity, and no safe water. Food is running out because aid into Gaza is constantly cut off, and the prices are soaring over 300% the average rate. A bag of flour can be over $45, and four potatoes could even run $80 or more. There is very little money being allowed into the country, and news reports are saying that almost 90% of all the available jobs in Gaza have been destroyed. Fathi, along with all of his siblings, have missed an entire year of school; an entire year of their childhood has been taken from them and replaced with the terrors of war. They have witnessed and endured unimaginable traumatic scenes in the last few months.

Fathi now, as one of the elder sons, is desperately trying to help raise enough money to get his family to safety. Throughout difficult displacements they have been trying to raise enough money to secure food, water, and milk for the young children. To do this Fathi and his brother have had to walk very long distance through unsafe and unsteady corridors of building rubble, climb up dangerous heights of half fallen buildings to try to reach enough signal to post online. In addition to this they must find money to pay for battery charge, Esim data, and other difficult barriers that make raising any money to survive at all incredibly difficult. Now, the situation has become increasingly more dangerous and dire over the last few days and Fathi’s family needs your help raising the $50,000 required coordination fee to cross the Rafah border. Currently, the border has closed, but the only hope remains that it will open again soon, and Fathi and his family must be prepared. There is no time to waste; the situation is unimaginably difficult. Fathi and his family need your help to survive this humanitarian crisis and rebuild their lives together.

Please help Fathi keep his dreams alive, help him and his young siblings be able to reach safety so they can try to continue what is left of their childhood and heal from the horrors that they have been subjected to for the last several months.