Newsletter from Gaza - February 2026  

The World just 5 weeks into the new year

While the beginning of the new year was just a few weeks ago, we already witnessed countless shocks to a human rights-based world order that, at least for some countries (on paper), used to value peace and multilateral respect.

We witnessed wars in Sudan and DRC that are driven by mineral exploitation; a national uprising in Iran where the Iranian call to lift crippling sanctions (and allow internal efforts to lead a regime change) is hijacked by foreign interests; the kidnapping of the Venezuelan president in broad daylight with impunity; anti-immigrant violence that turns into civil-war like scenes as witnessed with ICE agents; and European militarization to protect Greenland from an attack by a NATO ally.

The ceasefire in Gaza, which was meant to come into effect on 10 October 2025, was never a real ceasefire. In the past 4 months, 576 people were killed in Gaza, with an estimated 1543 wounded. Drones are still hovering in Gaza’s skies, intimidating and spying on people. In countless attacks, houses and important infrastructure got hit, and the so-called “yellow line” demarks a split of Gaza, which is not within the ceasefire agreement, let alone recognizes the rights and needs of Gazans who cannot even return to their homes.

Why do many people resonate with the “Nihilistic Pinguin”?

There are several explanations for why millions of people felt touched by the “Nihilistic Pinguin” (as it is referred to). People are thought to have resonated with the feeling of "opting out" of society as a sign of burnout from work and social requirements. Others saw in the video an existential fatigue, a peaceful resignation, as the penguin walked at a calm, determined pace away from everything he knew: "I’m not angry, I’m just done."

While this feeling of “I am done” with the world is understandable and might resonate with us as well.

However, we should not forget that we can make this world a better place. 

We are the millions, and we can make the change!

In January, we collected 525 USD for Sami and his family.

Thank you for your continuous, crucial support! 

We appreciate it a lot!

At the beginning of January, during a winter storm, the tents were destroyed again, and Sami had no choice but to spend time and money buying wood and  a tarp to fix them.

Some of the money was used for the family of 9's daily food needs, and Sami was able to pay back 100 USD on his computer loan.

EDUCATION IS EXPENSIVE

Sami is in his 2nd year of university, studying computer engineering with a focus on cybersecurity. The challenges of studying online are enormous- especially after 2 years of genocide and living in a tent. Next to the university costs, which have to be paid per semester, a lot of additional expenses need to be covered.

Last month, we already asked for support to help Sami fund a better computer he urgently needs for his studies. However, due to repeated winter storms and clothing and food needs, Sami could only reduce his debts on the computer by 100 USD, leaving 700 USD still owed to the shop.

Luckily, Sami had this new (used) computer, which enabled him to take his mid-term exams, which he just finished on 6 February.

Crucial Internet Access

While it is amazing that Sami can do online studies, this comes with a price. To have access to the internet, Sami goes to an internet café. The price for charging the Laptop is 3 Shekel (0.9 USD) per hour, and the internet costs 5 Shekel  (1.60 USD) per hour. When Sami needs to study5-8 hours per day, he needs to pay between 12.5 and 20 USD per day in internet and electricity expenses alone.

While Sami tries to study online on his computer or phone as much as possible, he sometimes has to print course materials to study when the internet is down. To ensure he could study 2 complex modules, he needed to print them out and pay 150 Shekels (45 USD).

A few days ago, Sami sent me a sad and frustrated message. He had just finished one of his exams for the midterms. However, when he tried to upload the 14-page PDF containing the exam results, his internet connection was down and he could not complete the upload. Sami communicated this to his professor; however, he was not allowed to retake the exam or resend the results, so the exam is counted toward the final mark as a failed grade.

In one month are the final exams. To mitigate the risk of internet failure at exam time, we need to make sure Sami has e- Sims, which he can activate as a backup when needed. 

Its on us, the people. 

Let's stand up for humanity! Our support and voices save lives.

We are the millions!

And we can make the change. 

This newsletter is published in English and German. Please subscribe to the newsletter, mention the language(s) you would like to receive, or contact Luna at Luna@healingforhumanity.world

luna@healingforhumanity.world

for more information visit our website: healingforhumanity.world