Our family, especially my 9-year-old sister Maryam, is facing a brutal winter in Gaza.

While this season is meant for warmth, holidays, and comfort for many around the world, we face freezing nights, strong winds, and relentless rain surrounding us, with no real shelter for protection. Some nights, the cold is so severe that Maryam can't sleep.

Amazing artwork by Notte💖 @rhymeswithfart

Winter is here. We are drowning in our suffering, falling ill, and struggling in a life that offers us neither warmth nor comfort. This winter, the pain grows harsher, and our cries for help rise even before the sound of the wind.

Please help. Please consider donating to our family. We are in true and urgent need. 🙏

My beautiful sister Maryam,

She carried that beautiful name after my grandmother, may she rest in peace. To us, Maryam is the name of the mother of Jesus Christ " Virgin Mery " peace be upon him.

From Gaza City wishing everyone a happy and blessed year.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year 🎄✨

Please stand by me and my family. We would not have made it this far without your kindness, help, and support.

Please help. Please consider donating to our family. We are in true and urgent need. Please donate now. 🙏

Many nights, Maryam is unable to sleep due to the extreme cold, rain, and wind. Your help is urgently needed. Please donate now. 🙏

Losing the home whose walls we grew up within the one that embraced our laughter and childhood dreams, and witnessed our simplest and most genuine moments is a pain beyond words, a weight upon the heart.

And yet, when I calm myself and take a deep breath, I realize that this pain, harsh as it is, can not compare to the sorrow of losing someone you love forever.

My mind drifted for a moment:

Do you realize how terrifying and tragic this war has become that we now find ourselves making such comparisons?

Please tell me… what do you think?

After everything we’ve been through over the past two years, there are still those who believe our tragedy has ended that we no longer need help, simply because there’s a fragile ceasefire, or because a few aid trucks have reached two million people who were deliberately and systematically starved for two years.

But the painful truth is that nothing has truly changed: the suffering continues, the hunger remains, and life is far from returning to normal. In fact, we are still a long way from that. The only thing that has changed is the form that our agony takes.

I think you’re right. This is the cruelest part of it all, that we’ve learned to call pain “endurable” only because there’s something worse.

It’s heartbreaking that war has forced us to measure pain to decide which loss hurts more when all of it is unbearable.

Your words capture something many feel but can’t express, the quiet grief of realizing that survival itself has become both a blessing and a burden.

If you'd like to make a difference this holiday season, I ask of you all to donate or boost Palestinian fundraisers! It won't take long and it's a good cause!