Help Dr. Ramy Aqel Provide Health Care to North Gaza

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Portland, Oregon, United States

Supporters

Ramy and a child patient at Ramy’s former clinic in Gaza City prior to Oct 7th

*** This Fundraiser has been verified by the For Gaza Project/For Gaza Families Global Collaborators, and the non-profit Roots of Solidarity–rootsofsolidarity.net. Please reach out to [email protected] with questions and concerns.

Follow our spreadsheet here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13ue9zEMhrxHX_ven4GvY6JYtYSZk7mvOo2XUd-ZJWQk/edit?usp=sharing

Hello Everyone,

My name is Renn Simmons and I am a climate artist–find my website here: rennsimmons.cargo.site–a teaching artist currently teaching at-risk-youth at an arts camp, and have worked mental health worker and educator in various capacities over the past 10 years. I am currently based in Portland, Oregon, and am the lead organizer of For Gaza Project, a multifaceted mutual aid project helping the international community connect to families and projects in Gaza in need of fundraisiing and advocacy.

I am deeply honored to be running this fundraiser for Dr. Ramy Aqel, a talented physician currently working at Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Palestine. I have worked over the past year and a half as an organizer and coordinator and helped raise and send over $250,000 into Gaza since the beginning of the illegal genocial occupation army of Palestine began their genocide against the Palestinian people.

I connected with Dr. Aqel in July of 2024 after being introduced to him by a Palestinian family also living in Gaza I had also been fundraising for, and immediately knew that I wanted to support his work.

At the start of our fundraiser, Dr. Aqel was serving as one of two lead physicians at a clinic in Khan Younis and working in the ER at the European Hospital. He since moved back to his home city of Gaza City in the North, and has been working in the ER at Al Shifa Hospital.

Dr. Aqel and I have over a year’s worth of photos and communication, and Dr. Aqel has an Instagram legacy dating back several years, but is very inactive on recently due to his 18+ hour shifts working at Al Shifa Hospital.

To date I have helped send over $25,000 to Ramy to serve patients in dire need, most of whom are the elderly, widows, and orphans who are unable to receive care due to the extreme lack of medical care available due to the destruction of their healthcare system.

Your urgent help is needed to support Dr. Aqel and other healthcare workers serving at Al Shifa Hospital, all of whom are being starved themselves while treating patients, and those in dire need of medical care. All donations will go directly to to provide urgent and life saving medical care to the injured and sick, and to provide food and water to Ramy and other healthcare workers so they can continue to do their work.

More information about Ramy in his own words:

My name is Ramy Aqel and I am a senior physician who grew up in and gained my doctoral training throughout Gaza. I have served as a dynamic physician within multiple hospitals and clinics over the last 14 years of my career as a doctor.

I am asking for your ongoing support to fund and maintain an emergency medical field clinic that my colleagues and I are working to establish in Gaza City where the bombing of the Baptist Hospital has left patients without care and support.

To be able to engage in this work however, we are in dire need of support and funding.

About Me

I served as a lead treatment and care coordinator in Gaza during the COVID-19 outbreak, and have gained specialization in Emergency, Oncology, Trauma Surgery, and Pediatric Care, using every skill at my disposal over the past year and half of the genocide of my people to offer care and support to my community.

Much of my work with my colleagues this past year centered around the care and treatment of the displaced and child orphan community in Khan Younis. While in the South, I moved between treating patients with my colleagues in a free community clinic, and as a physician at the European Hospital.

Rami and fellow doctors and nurses on break outside of the European Hospital in November 2024 in the city of Khan Younis, where Dr. Aqel served as a physician

After the Netzarim Corridor was briefly opened between the North and South last month, I relocated with my family back to my destroyed home in the North.

Our Work

In collaboration with a new established team of 3 other healthcare providers–a doctor and 2 nurses– We have been working tirelessly to serve the injured and ill with extremely minimal supplies.

Dr. Aqel treating a patient in his community clinic in Khan younis prior to Oct 7th

Although every healthcare provider and treatment center throughout Gaza is in dire need of supplies, the conditions in the North are far more severe. The bombing of the Baptist hospital in Gaza City(where I am currently based after multiple forced displacements from my home) at the beginning of April has left only 2 remaining partially-functioning hospitals in the North, with none of them functioning as what anyone in any other country would consider a “hospital.”

After the bombing, hundreds of patients have been left on the streets without access to care, many crowding in dirty tents or remaining on hopital beds in the road with no one to provide care to them. Setting up an emergency field clinic will enable us to attend to some of those who are in dire need of treatment and allow my team and I to continue our work.

We are in need of even the most basic of necessities–clean water, painkillers, bandages–to provide medical care to the sick and wounded. Without your donations, we are not able to offer any care, so I plea on behalf of our patients to allow us to reduce their suffering and enable me to continue to uphold my oath as a physican.

Dr. Aqel distributing vaccines for UNICEF in 2022

By offering a donation, no matter how small, you will enable my team and I to treat those who are in need of both emergency and ongoing care.

Please reach out to Renn at [email protected] with any questions or concerns and follow me on my Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/ramyaqel/

Things are beyond dire right now. Please help us serve the people of Gaza.

With gratitude,

Dr. Ramy Aqel and Renn Simmons

Needed Supplies list:

Questions and Answers:

How will my donations reach Ramy and his team?

Through direct Bank of Palestine transfers which offer the smallest fees possible compared to other transfers to Gaza. Chuffed uses Stripe which charges a fee for each donation, and we usually see about 4.5-6% from each donation taken from Stripe before we send the money.

We have provided a spreadsheet with the transfers in our updates, but always feel free to email us with more questions.

What are the current prices for medication and treatment in Gaza?

Due to the most recent escalation of violence by the zionist occupation throughout all of Palestine, but most heavily in Gaza, alongside the complete blockade of aid into Gaza as of March, medical supplies are incredibly expensive, scarce, and fluctuating drastically in both their price and availability.

How has Rami been verified as a physician in Gaza?

Rami was referred to to For Gaza Project by a family connected to our family fundraising node, For Gaza Families, and over the past 8 months, we have connected with Rami through photos, videos, conversations, and doctor referrals. We invite you to view Rami’s instagram and the many videos and photos that were taken during Rami’s time working in the clinic in Khan Younis.

Are you connected to a nonprofit or larger organization?

We have been working hard more months to connect Rami and his team to a nonprofit to shelter within and have been struggling. When Rami was in Khan Younis with the community clinic, their team finally was sheltered within Doctors Without Borders. Since returning to the North in February, Rami no longer has that funding or support. We are actively working to connect Rami soon.

About For Gaza Project (international collaborator):

For Gaza Project is an international advocacy collective based in Portland, OR and supported by US and International activists that was birthed out of relationships built between Palestinians in Gaza and our advocacy team over the past year. We have a joint desire to work together to fund their survival needs and community mutual aid efforts. We work as advocates and collaborators to link their work, projects, and mutual aid fundraising initiatives with support, advocacy, and funding from the international community. We provide accounting support and work with an accountant who helps us with money transfers.

We are 100% volunteer led/organized and have zero overhead, meaning all donations we help facilitate go directly to the projects we collaborate with. Your donations will help cover all fees associated with transfers, and we ask you to offer more than you might consider in order to ensure that transfer fees do not take away from vital monetary resources.

All of our fundraising and advocacy work is solely led by the leadership, wants, and desires of our collaborators and their work in Gaza, and we aim to walk hand in hand with each project to find the best path forward for their unique needs and desires in gathering support and funding of their work.

Rami and the Gaza City team is no exception. Regardless of what lies ahead, we will continue to do everything we can to be here for them and listen to their needs.

FGP welcome your questions and concerns about our respective work and collaboration at any point in time, and we will do everything we can to help you feel secure in your support for both of us.

Find us on Instagram: @forgazaproject Renn’s Instagram: ecological.in.translation

Email us at: [email protected]

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MAY/JUNE/JULY UPDATES

” I am very tired now. A hard, bloody day of work and massacres of innocent people.” June 20, 2025

Hello Everyone,

Thank you for your continued donations and support of Ramy and his patients.

The most recent round of $600 in donations went to a colleague of Ramy’s who takes care of orphans in Gaza City, and I hope to have an update soon around this. Once more, as a physician working long hours at Al Shifa Hospital and treats patients as a volunteer inbetween, I no longer ask for consistent photo documentation and hope you continue to understand the incredible trauma Ramy is enduring to continue to do his work and respecting the diginity of his patients. All photos shared of his patients have been given with permission.

While our fundraising efforts online and in person around Portland, OR have been very small, Ramy’s donors in Europe have kept Ramy’s work afloat enabling us to send $7,517 to Ramy since May. Ramy and his colleagues not only continue to work 18-24 hour shifts in Al Shifa hospital, but contunue to serve the Al Zaytoun area of Gaza City around Al Shifa hospital.

The past 2 months since my last updates have seen Ramy deteriorate physically, emotionally, and spiritually in every way as you can imagine. The reality stands that I don’t know how much longer Ramy will be alive with us if aid is not allowed into Gaza, like the hundreds of thousands of other Palestinians in Gaza who face imminent death by forced starvation.

There is food in Gaza and we must not give up on believing there is nothing we can do. Food is very expensive and becoming more and more scarce and expensive with each day, which is why we must fight harder than ever and donate now more than ever.

Reporting on the manufactured starvation by the genocide state of Israel:

-All of Gaza has reached level 5 Famine, meaning even if food is brought in now, many babies,children, and adults will die due to irreparable organ damage.

-UNRWA has just reported that 650,000 children will die if food is not allowed in within the next few weeks.

-1 in 3 Palestinians in Gaza are going for days without food.

-World Food Kitchen was the main provider of meals to doctors and nurses in the hospitals in Gaza and is no longer able to serve any meals

-Many healthcare workers are fainting and have become too weak to work while attending to patients, leaving many patients without care

This is the time to give as much as you are able to and ask others to do the same. If you don’t give to Ramy, give to a family in Gaza, to another mutual aid project, just give.

Their lives truly depend on us. Give them this dignity.

Major updates on Ramy and his work in the past 2 months:

-Ramy and his family were forced to evacuate from their home for the 3rd time in a month at the beginning of June

-Ahmed, Ramy’s assistant nurse, was abducted by the IGF(isr. genocide forces) and beaten up while attempting to seek aid

-Ramy and his cousins went to the American run aid site to attempt to get a bag of flour and his cousin was shot in the leg 3 times. His leg will be amputated if he doesn’t receive more treatment soon(see photo)

-Ramy continues to treat patients in the ER and in the field–see photo of patient he treated

I think all of us that fundraise want to continue to shine a light and focus on the beauty and goodness of the peope we love we are fundraising for, of their remarkable spirits, highlight the impact of our work.

The reality however stands that there is no goodness on the other side of this. There are no bright happy children to show, Ramy is not well, our donations have not fixed anything. Ramy however remains steadfast, showing up to 18 hour shifts multiple times a week, giving everything he has to the people of Gaza and to his family. He never asked to be a hero or sees himself as a hero. He does however embody the depths of everything sacred and true in humanity.

Your support, every dollar, every share, every person who says “yes, Ramy is important. His work is important. The sick and dying in Gaza are important. I care about the doctors of Gaza and choose to show it. I will not look away. I will show up now for Gaza.” brings back the smallest amount of grace and dignity to Ramy and to those suffering beyond imagination in Gaza.

Ramy sees your donations, talks to me about his suffering, asks about if more people want to support him. Your support and those who choose not to support him have made a deep mark on his soul.

I’m preparing myself for the death of many of the dearest souls I know and love and have become my family over the past 2 years. I will never stop fighting for them, and pray you won’t either.

Please don’t give up on Ramy, the doctors of Gaza, and those most in need of care. Give them the gift of knowing they are seen and loved and not forgotten about. Give them this final gift.

Please help me do this.

With gratitude,

Renn

“Where will we go, we are tired and psychologically destroyed”

Rami this morning, May 29th, after receiving another evacuation order for Gaza City and the Al Shifa Hospital.

Hello Everyone,

Thank you for your continued support of Dr. Aqel and the people of Gaza, especially those in dire need of care. Things in Gaza continue to become more and more horror filled with each passing day as I am sure you all are aware.

Rami just shared this morning that there is a new evacuation of the neighborhood where he was forcibly displaced to a month and a half ago, and is very exhausted and worried about what will happen next.

Updates on funding this past month:

With your support and the support of 2 large donations by a donor in Italy, we were able to send Rami and his colleague Ahmed over $3,000. With these donations, Rami was able to buy:

-bandages and dressings

-medications(ibuprofen, tylenolol, stomach issues, )

-antibiotics(topical and capsule)

-suture supplies

-cash aid for orphans and families

Rami has often been working 18 hour shifts at the Al Shifa hospital along with his off duty support for those in need of care outside of the hospital, so photographic evidence of what has been bought has been very difficult to provide on his end. I’ve included a sweet photo of one of my conversations with Rami and his colleagues inside Al Shifa, and will upload a video of Rami in Al Shifa in a separate update.

I am continuing to try to coordinate with other activists/organizations to get Rami more support and provide organizational coordination to offer Rami and his work more accredidation, but this past month in particular has been incredibly difficult to try to navigate.

Updates on the last month(May) in Gaza City and in Rami’s circle:

Forced evacuation of Khan Younis Clinic: The original clinic that we were working to gather funding and support for in Khan Younis was forcibly evacuated a week and a half ago, leaving thousands without daily care. Rami’s colleague, Dr. Ayman, was forcibly displaced with his family onto the street and currently has no tent.

This is devastating to know and I am hoping we can work together as a community to provide him with a tent–tents are currently $800, so please reach out to me personally if you think you might be able to help with this. Dr. Ayman offered so much care to his community in Khan Younis. Please help us support this incredible physician and everything he has selflessly given to his people.

Thai Market Massacre: 37 people were martyred and over 100 were seriously wounded by a bombing of the Thai Market and restaurant in Gaza City. Rami was working an 18 hour shift at Al Shifa when this occured and shared that it was an extremely traumatic and difficult day as he and colleagues received the injured from this massacre, and lost several of their patients.

Al Shifa Evacuation: The Israeli Occupation Terrorist Forces forcibly evacuated Al Shifa hospital in the beginning of May, forcing doctors to leave hundreds of patients on the street without care. While Al Shifa is still running and some patients were brought back into the hospital a week after this evacuation, bombing threats continue to loom and Al Shifa continues to take on more and more patients after the Indonesian and Baptist hospitals were both bombed and most parts of both of these hospitals were shut down.

Murder of medical colleagues: 5 of Rami’s close colleagues were martyred this past month. Please pray for their families to have patience and for God to grant them the highest level of Jhanna.

Starvation: Rami consistently shares that he is eating one meal and day or not at all, making bread out of rotten and weevil filled flour. Your donations ensure that Rami and his family are able to eat, along with other patients who are without. Bags of flour where Rami is are anywhere from $600 to as much as $1000 a bag for 25kg.

Increased bombings: Gaza City has undergone a large increase in bombings over the last month, which has been shared by all across the Gaza Strip. Rami and other in Gaza City have shared that the bombings were as frequent as every 5 minutes some nights. As of writing this (8:30 PM PST on May 30th), very heavy bombing is being reported in Northern Gaza near Gaza City. With the potential of a ceasefire, the occupation is sure to increase their violence.

Continued Support

As the one speaking on Rami’s, I am extremely worried about Rami and the impact that his work continues to have on him.

He is very grateful for your support, but he has been more and more impacted by the trauma he sees every day, the malnutrition that is deeply setting in for him like every single Palestinian in Gaza, and his sheer exhaustion. He has messaged less frequently and I can tell that his work continues to shape his ability to coordinate and communicate on his end.

Please don’t allow this to minimize your support for him–rather, please do everything you can to share his story, and increase your support for he and his colleagues now more than ever.

Rami and I have been in contact for almost a year now, and he has always been the most honest, loyal, and deeply devoted physician to his people and patients. Please don’t give up on him and others in Gaza when they need us most. Donations have been coming in at a trickle for the past 3 weeks, while need only increases.

As always, please reach out to me with questions and concerns. I will continue to do my best with others to bring in more support.

With gratitude,

Renn(For Gaza Project) and Dr. Rami Aqel

Current Update

This update comes with grief as always and a the continued heaviest of hearts.

Rami is experiencing deep grief and exhaustion as he continues to work 17 hour shifts at the Al Shifa hospital while serving patients during his off-hospital time. We have connected with a couple of larger organizations we are hoping might be able to offer more substantial support, and are praying this goes through.

Even in writing this we do our best to appear hopeful, despair is palpable, and we look to Sumud, the Palestinian practice of steadfastness as we continue to watch the failure of the world and the absolute demoic devastation that Gaza continues to suffer at the hands of the USA and state of Israel.

No aid has entered Gaza in almost 2 months.

Every hospital is nearly non-functioning–is a hospital truly a hospital if there is no clean water, no anesthia, no painkillers aside from aspirin and ibuprofen, hosptial beds filled with 4-6 children at a time, and physicians like Rami treating multiple amputations and wounds with often the most basic of supplies?

Al Shifa hosptial, where Rami works, is in the photo posted with our update and as you can see, has borne extensive bombing and destruction of their ambulances. Journalists in Gaza continue to cover the destruction every day and there is no need for Western media to confirm anything. If you do have skeptics in your life however, please send them this new article by the New Yorker which talks at length about Gaza’s Hospitals and features Al Shifa in their cover photo:

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/04/28/hospitals-in-ruins

I know that it is highly desirable to see constant updates on social media and proof of services that are given by teams in Gaza, but Rami and For Gaza Project ask for grace right now while Rami is unable to post many updates, and the For Gaza Project team–which is currently mainly Renn, our accountant Ari, and a few US/International comrades who are sharing posts and supporting email writing–are focusing heavily on outreach to get as much funding as possible.

We ask for your continued support and advocacy. If you are interested in joining the outreach and advocacy team, please contact us.

Only Weeks of Aid Left in Gaza

The Sameer Project, an incredible organization that has been serving Gaza as no other organization in Gaza has been able to, has reported that there are only mere weeks of aid left within the Gaza Strip. Rami has reported that he is eating one meal a day and that the doctors in the hospital are doing the same, often giving their food to patients.

Every family we are connected to is starving and the Gaza Health Ministry and every largescale international health organization has reported that 100% of Gazans are experiencing starvation in some form.

Because aid is disappearing rapidly, we are working harder than ever to try to get as much support for Rami and the healthcare providers he works with as quickly as possible. There are very small amounts of medical aid that NGOs are bringing in for hospitals and clinics, and this is all Rami and other healthcare providers have access to for their patients.

Please keep praying and ACTING. This must end and it only will by increased pressure and escalation. With mere weeks of aid left, all the donations in the world will not keep Gaza alive while every type of death and horror continues to be inflicted on Gaza.

As always, thank you for your continued support and please let let us know if you have any questions.

With Gratitude,

Renn and Dr. Rami Aqel

Chirona Silverstein

1 day ago

$100

Ben Katz

2 days ago

$10

Anonymous

3 days ago

$50

Marcella Bo

6 days ago

$75

Ben Katz

9 days ago

$10

Christina Sasser

11 days ago

$431

Anonymous

13 days ago

$25

Manav Dutta

16 days ago

$20

Ben Katz

16 days ago

$10

Anonymous

19 days ago

$20

Forest Haerr

23 days ago

$25

Ben Katz

23 days ago

$10

Esther Silverman

23 days ago

$10

Eleanor Gordon

26 days ago

$100

Shelley Hartling

28 days ago

$30

Ben Katz

4 weeks ago

$10

Anonymous

4 weeks ago

$25

Randy Rodriguez

5 weeks ago

$100

Nesa Levy

5 weeks ago

$30

Renn Personal Donation

5 weeks ago

– Offline donation

$50

For Gaza Project

Renn Simmons