Abdallah Abu Samra, 1948 refugee, is homeless again

Abdallah Abu Samra was 10 years old when his family was forced out of the Palestinian village of Iraq Suwaydan where they farmed 100 acres. The village was about 15 miles north of what is now the Gaza Strip. Eventually, the family reunited in Gaza and lived in a beautiful five-story building. 

But when the bombs started falling and the walls started shaking as Israeli retaliated for the October 7 Hamas attack, the family, now with about 20 members, had to evacuate again. Some died in attacks. Many raised enough money through GoFundMe drives to pay the $5,000 it cost to cross into Egypt. 

Samra is still in Gaza, scraping by with money sent by his relatives in Egypt, and hoping someday that if he can’t ever return to the family farm that is now in Israel, at least maybe he will pitch a tent next to the ruins of his northern Gaza home. 

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