A Palestinian man's struggle to get his family out of besieged Gaza

Ahmed Hamza's family in Gaza has narrowly dodged death not once, not twice, but four times since Israel launched its deadly military assault seven months ago. But there was always a bit of hope that they would find a way to get out. That hope was extinguished when the Israeli army shut off the Rafah border crossing earlier this week.

He lives in the UK and is among those in the Palestinian diaspora who have resorted to crowdfunding to try and get their families to safety.

Besides his aging parents, Hamza has seven siblings who have desperately looked to him for help.

"You don't know what to expect, and this makes you feel worried all the time," the 30-year-old tells TRT World.

"You're living like you wish you were there, and it would be easier because as long as you have your family around you, you know [how they are doing]. If something happens to them, it will happen to you, and that also would be fine or better than just waiting and getting news from outside."

An expensive proposition

Since the beginning of Israel's brutal war on Gaza on October 7, the Rafah border crossing that connects the besieged enclave to Egypt has been a vital aid route, and the only exit for Palestinians trying to get out.

The Israeli military has killed 34,844 Palestinians, two-thirds of them women and children.

Traveling across the border is an expensive proposition.

Hamza has to raise $62,000, enough to evacuate the 19 members of his family, which includes the spouses and children of his siblings. “Unfortunately, my campaign hasn’t managed to collect the required funds."

Caught between a rock and a hard place

Before the Rafah border was closed, his crowdfunding campaign on GoFundMe raised enough funds to evacuate only one family member. That posed an insurmountable dilemma for Hamza.

"It's not possible because who am I going to evacuate? If I get my father out, who will take care of my family? If I get my mother out, how can she deal [with] being alone in Egypt? If I get my minor brother or sister out, it doesn't work as well," he says.

"Even if you manage to collect what is enough for one person, you can't get that person out."

As ceasefire talks continue in Cairo, Hamza says, "nobody can predict what could happen next," while he continues to hope for a positive outcome.

When reports came late on Sunday that Hamas had accepted a ceasefire, the war-weary people in Gaza came out on the streets to celebrate. Among them was one of Hamza’s sisters.

"My sister was telling me that she was in the streets at the time they published that Hamas had accepted the chance for a ceasefire, and they thought that it was a full agreement on both sides. She was very happy. She went back home, and she started crying."

But her joy was short-lived as Israel did not agree to the ceasefire and prepared for the assault on Rafah city.

"Nobody knows for sure what could happen because nothing makes sense anymore. But I hope that there will be a truce or ceasefire anyway.”

Need for aid

The UN has raised serious concerns over Israel's control and invasion of the Rafah crossing, which has choked off essential aid to the people of Gaza, putting countless lives at risk.

Commissioner general of UNRWA Philippe Lazzarini says that fuel deliveries are a particular worry, as the crossing is the only entry point into the enclave.

"Without fuel, trucks cannot move critical humanitarian assistance, water pumps will stop functioning & the remaining hospitals will shut down," Lazzarini said in a post on social media.

"This happens at a time we are racing against the clock to respond to immense humanitarian needs across the #Gaza Strip. The crossings must open for fuel & humanitarian supplies must start flowing back into Gaza smoothly."

Director-general of the World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has also warned that hospitals in the south of Gaza had only days of fuel left, "which means services may soon come to a halt,” where healthcare is already in a dire state.