For five months Eyad Almasri and his family survived bombs, forced displacement, a lack of food and water, poor hygiene and the deaths of family and friends.

The Almasris were among two million Palestinians caught up in the Israeli attacks on the Gaza strip, launched in retaliation for a Hamas attack on a music festival which saw the deaths of 1200 people.

Since Israel struck back in October last year, 38,000 people, including women and children, have been killed in the besieged Gaza strip.

Hundreds of thousands more are homeless and suffering hunger and ill health.

Eyad and his family arrived in Melbourne in May with the support of his wife Nirmaan’s sister, who has lived in Australia for many years.

In his homeland, Eyad was Executive Manager of Al Amal Institute for Orphans, Gaza’s biggest and oldest shelter for children.

He had led the organisation for ten years. It was home to 100 kids aged between 5 and 18 and supported 15,000 more living with their extended families.

“Things were difficult before the conflict began. The situation in Gaza was bad. We were always seeking donations from overseas to support our kids – from the US, Britain and also Australia,” Eyad said.

He said this included Australian charity the Olive Kids, which is dedicated to improving the lives of Palestinian children through providing financial aid, education and healthcare.

“The support we got from Olive Kids and other groups around the world was critical. The sponsorship helped us be able to provide cash for the kids’ expenses, food parcels, health packs, hygiene packs; and also it enabled us to organise social activities for the children.”

Nirmaan was an English teacher.

Eyad said the outbreak of widespread conflict on October 7 came as shock.

“The onset of the conflict is cemented in my memory. We all felt there was something wrong with bombing going on everywhere,” he said.

“Everyone was asking ‘what is going on?’. We had to leave our house and we went to my wife’s family’s house.

“Then we found out war had erupted between Israel and Hamas. It continued for days, and it didn’t stop.”

Eyad said that over the last decade, there had been six outbreaks of conflict in Gaza, but most had lasted only a few days.

He said he heard that the orphanage had been damaged and he rushed to see for himself.

“The Israeli army had bombed many of our buildings, including damage to the shelter. The community centre and social centre were destroyed,” Eyad said.

“I went to look at the damage and we realised we couldn’t let our children stay there. We had to send them to their extended families and friends, who took them into their homes.”

Eyad said the orphanage had been bombed despite it being on a list of humanitarian sites established by The UN’s Palestine-focused agency UNRWA.

“We had told the UN and Red Cross that the orphanage was a safe place and should not be targeted. We had always given the location of the orphanage to the UN and Red Cross who informed the Israelis but it was targeted anyway.”

Like hundreds of thousands of other Gazans, Eyad and his family were forced to flee their homes and neighbourhoods multiple times.

“The Israelis said people in Gaza City must move south. I left my home and my city with my wife and family for Khan Younis. It was difficult to travel, there was not transport available. We had to pay a lot of money, around $US100, for a car to drive us there but many people were forced to walk,” Eyad said.

“It was supposed to be a safe area but from the first day, there was bombing and military aircraft in the sky.

“We were in Khan Younis 54 days. Day by day, the bombing came closer and closer to us. We had no clean water and almost no food. There was no healthcare because the hospital was bombed and there was no electricity.”

Like almost everyone in Khan Younis at the time, Eyad and his family found living conditions almost intolerable.

“We lived in a relative’s house. There were 55 of us in one house. But some people and families had no shelter except what they could construct from whatever they could find.”

It was in Khan Younis that Nirmaan’s father passed away.

“He got sick and died. There were no medicines and no operating hospitals.”

It was also in Khan Younis that the family got word their home had been destroyed.

“We got news that our home, in an apartment building, had been damaged. It was eventually completely destroyed by the Israeli army,” he said.

Eyad has a film on his phone of the building in Gaza City collapsing.

Shortly after these twin tragedies, Eyad and his family were on the move again, forced to leave Khan Younis and move to Rafah, a city of 200,000 that swelled to 1.5 million with an influx of refugees.

“We found the same circumstances in Rafah, no food and no water and no shelter. But it was the worst time of all for us. We had to rent a house for $US1500 – but some families paid twice that,” Eyad said.

“We were in Rafah three months. It was very difficult. If we could find any food, we had to cook it on an open fire. There was no clean water.

“There was nothing for kids to do and the bombing continued everywhere. In Rafah it got very close to us.”

After months of living precariously, Eyad’s daughters Noor, 9, and Nada, 14, began to show signs of trauma.

“Every day we tried to sleep with the sound of bombing. The kids were scared, they kept saying to us ‘we don’t want to die like our grandfather’.

“There was no school or education for them. They kept having nightmares. In one of these my daughter saw blood on some children’s blankets.”

Nada is talented artist but all of her drawings from the age of five were lost when her family’s home was destroyed.

Nirmaan has a sister who has lived in Australia for many years, so as life was becoming desperate, they explored the option of getting visa to come to Australia.

“Eventually, we got a visa but we could not get through the border into Egypt,” Eyad said.

“We were suffering and we tried many times to leave. In the end we managed to get into Egypt and we came to Australia.”

Eyad says he is grateful to have been able to bring his family to safety in Australia despite having his life turned upside down.

“I have lost my home and my job. My daughters have not been able to complete their education and are now suffering trauma, but we are grateful to be here,” he said.

Eyad’s mother also fell ill in Gaza and is now with his brother in Libya.

But he has fears for two brothers and a sister still living in Rafah in tents.

“There is no water or electricity. The sanitation is poor and the situation is very bad. We hope this war stops as soon as possible so that no more innocent people are not killed. Seventy per cent of the victims and children and women,” Eyad said.

“The international community must help us stop this war and help us repair Gaza. There is so much damage that needs rehabilitation.”

Eyad said Palestinians have always been seeking peace.

“Most Palestinians do not want violence, they are looking for peace,” he said.

“Palestine was always known as the land of peace and it was once a land that welcomed all religions.

“All Gazans want now is peace and negotiation. They want the right to freedom, to peace and to education.”

Eyad said he left Gaza to save his family.

“We left Gaza because of the war. Despite the difficulties, we loved our life there and, but for the conflict, we would still be there.”

He said that Gazans have felt like refugees since 1948, when Zionist forces took control of territory in Palestine and established the State of Israel. More than 700,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled.

“We were already refugees in Gaza. My grandfather’s city Al Majdel was occupied by Israel and my family was forced to leave and find refuge in Gaza City,” Eyad said.

“In 1967 my father as forced to leave and go to Egypt, where I was born but was never a citizen.”

Eyad and his family have been supported by a not-for-profit organisation called Palestine Australia Relief and Action.

“We are grateful to the Australian Government and community and the organisations here helping us,” he said.

“We hope to establish a new life in Australia and a new life for our kids with a better future for them.

“It’s not easy for us to start again but with support we hope we can start to contribute and help other people coming to Australia.”

Eyad and his family have arrived in Australia as visitors and have applied for protection visas.

“I want to work as soon as possible. I ran a charitable organisation and I was an accountant in a bank for 15 years and my wife was an English teacher, so I think we have some skills to offer.

“At the moment, we have no income, we lost our savings and everything else. I just hope the Australian Government can help me get work,” Eyad said.