'Heartbroken' Newport woman launches fundraiser to help her family in Gaza rebuild destroyed home
Watch the video report by ITV News journalist, Hamish Auskerry
A Newport woman is desperately trying to raise money to rebuild her family's home in Gaza after it was destroyed in the war.
Alaa Al Talla's wider family have been living in a camp in Rafah, near the border crossing with Egypt.
Thankfully they had evacuated their home where Alaa grew up days before it was flattened.
With the situation in the country become more and more dangerous with severe Israeli air strikes, some of her family members have now fled further south in Gaza in the last few days.
The mum of one says her "heart is broken", she cannot eat, sleep and go about normal day-to-day life. She cannot even go out food shopping as she feels guilty.
Alaa is desperate for her parents, siblings and other family members to find a "safe place" and is trying to find a way to bring them to the UK.
She has launched a Go Fund Me fundraiser in a bid to raise enough money to rebuild the family home in Gaza or pay for evacuation costs if the war continues long-term.
She told ITV Wales: "My family are in a bad situation, they suffer too much to get food, to get water. They struggle too much. They always hear bombs and have been trying to find a safe place to stay and have had to evacuate many times."
Alaa's father worked his whole life to build the family home and her mother did not want to leave their house initially. As the violence escalated, she became increasingly worried for her family's safety and begged her mother to get out of the region.
She said: "I gave my mum a call and kept calling her to tell her to please take my brother, and sister and evacuate as the area was so dangerous. She said no - because she spent all her life there and could not leave it."
Alaa continued to call her mother and she finally decided to listen. She said: "In the end, she said ok, I will do what you tell us.
"They evacuated and very soon after Israel started bombing the whole area. They burned many houses and destroyed them - they killed lots of people in our area."
The family's three-storey property was reduced to rubble. But Alaa says "the house is nothing, my family is more important".
She hopes for a ceasefire and said: "120 days we have been living in this war, no one can do anything to stop the bombs, the guns.
"They need just one night of peace to sleep safely or with peace."
Alaa's husband, Margz Ahmad, says the trauma of having family trapped in Gaza is taking its toll on his wife. He says they feel powerless. "The war has affected everyone in different ways", he said.
"We cannot carry on in normal life, cannot eat, or sleep properly. We are always worried. The war is always in the background. We do not know if we will receive a phone call with bad news."
He says what is happening in Gaza resonates with people not just in Wales but across the world.
He continued: "I am aware that the people of Wales have a strong community feel and there is excellent community cohesion in the multi-cultural society that we have in Wales, especially in Newport and Cardiff. I am sure they will come together and support Alla and the Palestinian-Gazan voice.
"There have been many protests and this will affect everyone in some way or another.
"Nobody wants to see a starving child, a child who has lost their mother or their life.
Alaa says she wants the UK Government to do more to help Gazans evacuate while the war rages on.
"I wish the UK can listen to me and help me to bring my family here at least to visit me, at least until the war is finished and then they can go back", she told ITV Wales.
"Sometimes I cry with my tears when I cook with gas, when I use the washing machine while my mum cannot do this. She does not have electricity to cook or to wash clothes in the washing machine. Why does this happen to them?
"So I wish that the UK can help the Palestinians like they've help the Ukrainians. Why not?"
The Welsh Refugee Council said in a statement: "Families fleeing war and persecution, regardless of where they are from, need protection.
"This is why we and our partners have repeatedly called on the UK government to expand its safe and legal routes for sanctuary seekers.
"This will also reduce the number of dangerous irregular crossings".
The UK Government's Home Office spokesperson said: "All applications are carefully considered on their individual merits, and must meet the requirements of the Immigration Rules and published guidance.”
It said Visa Application Centres are open and operating in Egypt, in both Cairo and Alexandria and they continue to support British nationals and other eligible persons who have entered Egypt via the Rafah crossing.
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