When you lose everything because of war. When every path to life is closed before you. When each day becomes unbearable. When your mind is on the verge of breaking from helplessness and grief. This is Jihad’s story.
“My name is Jihad Mohammad Al-Madhoun, a 59-year-old father from the Gaza Strip. I spent decades working tirelessly to build a safe, four-story home where my five children and I could live in peace. Tragically, this war has shattered our dreams and reduced our home to rubble, leaving us completely displaced.
Today, we survive in a makeshift tent that lacks the most basic human necessities. Having lost almost all our savings through repeated and exhausting forced displacements, our daily life has become an unbearable struggle. I now find myself unable to provide even the most essential needs for my family.
We live in absolute terror, entirely stripped of safety and security. We are constantly subjected to relentless bombardment by the Israeli forces. Everywhere around us, precious lives are being torn away. There is no sanctuary left; every step we take is clouded by the paralyzing fear of airstrikes and sudden death.
My family has lost absolutely everything. I share this cramped tent with my five children and two granddaughters, both under the age of four. Among them are two university students whose futures are now shattered; I can neither afford their tuition nor provide basic essentials like laptops.
The living conditions inside the tent are unbearable for all of us—the suffocating heat is intense, and we are constantly exposed to dangerous rodents and reptiles. It is an environment entirely unfit for human survival, let alone for children to grow or students to learn.
I suffer from a cluster of chronic conditions, including hypertension, diabetes, and high triglycerides, as well as a herniated disc between the fourth and fifth vertebrae that severely compresses the nerve, causing nerve damage and a loss of normal mobility. As for medications and treatments, they are unavailable most of the time; when they are available, they are prohibitively expensive, and I cannot afford them.
“We are suffering from a severe water shortage, particularly during the summer months, which critically impacts personal hygiene. Furthermore, essential body-building foods—such as vegetables, fruits, fish, and meat—are largely unavailable. Even when found, their prices are exorbitantly high.
Many of my required medications are currently unavailable, including anti-inflammatory compresses, antihypertensives, and dietary supplements.
The international community must halt the massacres and genocide, end the war, and lift the blockade on Gaza. The reconstruction process of Gaza must begin to restore even a fraction of the dignity and freedom of the Palestinian people.”
Please go to Jihad’s GoFundMe account: https://tinyurl.com/AhmedinGaza
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