Imogen Forster

_I am writing to you from Gaza._ My name is Abdullah Omar, and I live in Gaza. I am a human being, just like you. I am living through a catastrophe that no words can truly describe. Every day here is a struggle to survive. We wake up not knowing if we will be safe. We go to sleep to the sound of fear. There is no stable electricity, no clean water, no sense of security. Everything we once called a normal life has disappeared. We have lost homes. We have lost loved ones. We have lost our dreams. But the hardest part is seeing our children live through this reality. No child should grow up knowing only fear, hunger, and the sound of bombardment. They deserve to play, to learn, to dream of a future. I am not writing this out of pity. I am writing this because we are human beings, and we want the world to see us as human beings. We want to live. We want peace. We want our children to have a chance to live a life without trauma. All we are asking for is what every person on this earth asks for: safety, dignity, and peace. Please do not look away. Hear our voices. Remember that behind every news headline, there is a family, a child, a father, a mother, just trying to survive. _From Gaza, with hope that someone is listening._ *Yours sincerely,* *Abdullah Omar from Gaza*