My name is Ahmed Abdel Aal.
I worked as a journalist for nearly twenty years, trying to convey the truth as it is—without distortion or manipulation. Over the past ten years, alongside journalism, I dedicated myself to humanitarian relief work in Gaza, because suffering here is not only witnessed… it is lived.

During the war on Gaza, I was detained by the Israeli army for nineteen months.
Nineteen months of torture, deprivation, hunger, and denial of medical care.
Nineteen months during which I lost nearly 40 kilograms of my body weight, leaving me weighing only 50 kilograms.
Nineteen months in which I faced death daily—not because I was strong, but because hope refused to die.

When I was released, I faced a reality harsher than prison cells.
My home had been completely destroyed.
My wife was injured in an Israeli airstrike.
My daughter and my son were injured as well.
I returned to life, but life was no longer the same.

Today, I own nothing in this world except my family, my belief in humanity, and my sincere desire to help others.
I urgently need medical treatment, as do my wife and children after what we have endured.
Severe malnutrition during my detention caused serious damage to vital functions in my body, and I continue to suffer its consequences every day.

Despite everything, I still want to help others.
Because those around me have lost their homes, their loved ones, and their livelihoods.
Because thousands of families in Gaza barely have food for a single day.
Because pain, when left unshared, destroys.

I write to you today not to beg for pity, but to ask for human solidarity.
To see in my story a reflection of thousands of silent stories.