Help Abood Survive After Losing 23 Family Members

Help Abood and Nesreen Survive After Losing 23 Members of Their Family in Gaza

Hi kind person,

My name is Melissa, and I’m based in the U.S. For more than 2½ years, I’ve been doing mutual aid work with families from Gaza, helping them raise funds for food, shelter, medical care, and other basic necessities.

Today, I’m writing about my friend Abood Naser.

I met Abood in January 2025, and over time he has become family. He calls me Yami and I think of him as one of my own children.

This campaign will help Abood meet his own basic needs while also helping him support the surviving members of his family— his sister Nesreen and her five children (including one-year-old twins) who are still in Gaza.

Funds raised will be used for:

• Food and daily living expenses

• Rent and housing costs

• Baby formula, diapers, and necessities for the children

• Medical treatment

In his own words:

My name is Abdallah Amin Naser, and I am from Gaza, Palestine.

I never imagined that I would have to write words like these. Today, I write with a heart full of grief after losing most of my family in a horrific tragedy that changed my life forever.

On January 6, 2024, the massacre that destroyed my family took place. While my family was sleeping inside our home in Gaza, the house was struck and destroyed. In just a few moments, I lost 23 members of my family. Since that day, nothing has been the same, and I carry the pain of their loss with me every single day.

Abood’s mother and uncle

Among those I lost were my father, Amin Jabr Naser, 50 years old, and my mother, Samar Salem Naser, 47 years old. I also lost my beloved brother, Zain Al-Din Amin Naser, who was only 16 years old.

I lost my sister, Nermin Amin Naser, 23 years old, her husband Mahmoud Al-Yazji, 27 years old, and their baby daughter, Warda Mahmoud Al-Yazji, who was only six months old.

Abood’s father

I also lost my uncle, Samer Salem Naser, 42 years old, along with his wife and their three children, whose ages ranged from 6 to 15 years old. I lost my aunt, her husband, and their three children, whose ages ranged from 4 to 10 years old. I also lost my cousin and many other beloved members of my extended family.

Abood’s brother Zain.

One of the few survivors was 9-year-old Rovan Samer Naser. She miraculously survived the attack, but lost her father, mother, siblings, and nearly her entire family. At such a young age, she now carries a grief that no child should ever have to bear.

Abood’s cousins

At the time of the attack, I was outside Gaza pursuing my education. Being away from home is the only reason I survived. But survival came with a different kind of pain. I never had the chance to see my family one last time, to embrace them, or to say goodbye. I never saw the faces of my parents, my brother, or my loved ones before they were buried. This heartbreak remains with me every day.

Abood’s niece

Many times, I wish I had been with them that night—not because I do not value life, but because losing them in this way left a wound in my heart that will never heal. Today, I live far from my homeland and far from my family, carrying only their memories, their photographs, and the pain of their absence.

Only a very small number of my family members survived, including my older sister and her five children. Recently, my sister gave birth to twin babies inside besieged Gaza, where they continue to live under extremely difficult conditions.

They face hunger, displacement, and severe shortages of food, baby formula, diapers, and other basic necessities. Our family home was destroyed, our loved ones were taken from us, and those who survived are struggling every day to meet their most basic needs.

Today, I am doing everything I can to help my sister and her five children. However, the emotional and financial burden is overwhelming.

Nesreen’s twins— Abood’s nephews, still trapped in Gaza.

I humbly ask for your support to help provide food, baby formula, diapers, shelter, and essential necessities for the surviving members of my family and the children who depend on us.

Every donation, no matter how small, can make a meaningful difference in our lives. If you are unable to donate, please consider sharing our story with others.

Thank you for taking the time to read our story and for standing with us during the most difficult chapter of our lives.

With sincere gratitude,

Abdallah Amin Naser

Something people take for granted is that when young people leave home for college, their family is still there. They can call for advice. They can ask for help when life becomes difficult. They have somewhere to return to.

Abood does not have that.

He is lonely and bereft and struggling to survive on his own in a strange country while his sister struggles in Gaza.

If you would like to leave Abood a message of encouragement in the comments, I know it would mean a great deal to him.

Find us on Instagram:

@abdallahamin2025

@nsreennaser

@mmortars_