Fuad and Michael have been friends for 45 years, since they met in 1979. Fuad and his family have been refugees three times (in 1948, 1967, and 2023.) Now they may need to flee Rafah soon.
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Update: We want to let people know that Fuad and family left Rafah before the fighting started there, and are now refugees in the Khan Yunis area. Here is a picture of Fuad with his house in Khan Yunis.
Michael and Fuad worked together on the same kibbutz for 10 years. In those days, it was easy for people living in the Gaza Strip to cross the border legally and work in Israel. Michael's oldest son, used to stay overnight with the children in Fuad's family in Khan Younis, a city in southern Gaza. Fuad now has children and grandchildren of his own. The war in Gaza has heavily damaged their Khan Younis home, rendering it uninhabitable.
Before the war, Fuad had a permit to work in Israel. After the Hamas attack on October 7, the Israeli military detained Gazan workers in Israel, and stole almost $2,000 from Fuad as well as his cellphone. Soldiers beat him and injured his knee. Eventually, the military expelled him back to the Gaza Strip.
Friends of Fuad are trying to raise money to help his extended family. A sack of flour now costs $300 in southern Gaza and if the Israeli military invades Rafah, where the family is sheltering, they will need money to flee.
Friends of Fuad are trying to raise money to help the family purchase food and rent shelter. We have successfully wired money to Fuad already.
History
Before the 1948 Nakba (Palestinian Catastrophe), the family lived in the village of Barbara, located between the contemporary Israeli city of Ashkelon and Gaza. The family had to to flee in the 1948 and became refugees in the Jabaliya refugee camp, near Gaza City.
After the 1967 War, Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon bulldozed significant portions of the refugee camps in Gaza. Fuad's family was force to find a new home. They built a house in Khan Younis. The current war destroyed this house and they had to flee to Rafah, If there is a military invasion of Rafah, they would have to move, although where any of the Palestinians currently in Rafah will be able to move is unclear.
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Update: We want to let people know that Fuad and family left Rafah before the fighting started there, and are now refugees in the Khan Yunis area. Here is a picture of Fuad with his house in Khan Yunis.
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Jun 01