Inverkip family appeal for help to save loved ones in Gaza

Mum-of-one Rasha Ramadan from Inverkip told the Telegraph about the plight that her uncles, aunts, cousins and their children - aged as young as two -are facing as the Israeli bombardment intensifies.

Her entire family - who are among 1.4 million displaced Palestinians - are now trapped in the southern city of Rafah after being forced to flee their homes in Gaza City.

Heartbroken Rasha, along with her mum Maha Eljamala, are appealing for help to get their loved ones safely across the Egyptian border.

Rasha, 34, who has her own four-year-old daughter, said: "This a frightening situation and it gets worse every day. But there is nothing left to do, there is no choice now but to leave.

"We have been supporting our family, sending them money and any support that we can. They have nothing, they had to leave everything behind and their homes are gone.

"We feel so helpless. We speak to them when we can, but the signal is not great.

"Every night we pray they survive.

"But the situation is becoming much worse now and there is no end in sight. The only way is to get them out.

"We had to do something positive. The border into Egypt is closed and the only way out is to pay a lot of money.

"There are 13 of them - my uncles, my aunts, my cousins.

"They are all in Rafah, 1.4 million people, in a place the size of Heathrow Airport and they are terrified."

Fears are growing that Israel will launch a ground assault on Rafah following the atrocious terrorist attacks by Hamas on innocent Isreali men, women and children on Otober 7 last year.

Rasha says that her family are 'running out of time'.

She said: "It costs such a lot of money to get out of Gaza. It will cost around £50,000 to get everyone out and to help them rebuild their lives in Cairo."

Rasha's family includes her cousin Areej, 32, her husband Bassem and their two daughters Zain, five, and Leen, two.

Zain had just started Kindergarten when the Isreali offensive began.

Rasha has told how the family is running out of food, there are no medical supplies and their only shelter is a house with an asbestos roof.

She says the children are suffering from stomach pains but there are no medicines available.

Her cousin Hala is 18 and had finished high school with the best score in the whole of Gaza, winning a scholarship to study computer science at a university - whoch has now been reduced to rubble.

Throughout the ordeal Rasha and her mum Maha have been overwhelmed by the support of their friends and the wider community in Inverclyde.

Palestinian Maha, a maths teacher and her husband Faisal, a surgeon specialising in urology, and their three daughters Rasha, Marah, 30, and Nour, 24, have lived in Inverkip for 30 years.

Gran Maha works with the refugees in Inverclyde as a pupil support assistant for New Scots in high schools.

She said: "My family have worked hard all their lives. They don't want to ask for help, they find it humiliating.

"But there is nothing left for them, Gaza is their home and they would never want to leave, but there is no choice left, there is nothing in Gaza.

"We don't know what their homes look like now, what is left of them. It has all gone."

So far Rasha has raised £11,000 but is appealing for help to reach her target.

Rasha, who is a business analyst and now lives in Renfrewshire, said: "People have been so generous so far, people are so kind and they just want to help.

"There have had the most fantastic support from our friends and the community of Inverclyde. We can't thank them enough for all their support."

To show your support for Rasha's fundraising campaign to save the Eljamala family,  visit her gofundme page on https://rb.gy/n1ngbj