Surfers in war-torn Gaza find rare moments of joy taking to the waves
Only three or four surfers still ride Gaza’s waves as Israel restricts sea access and surfboards remain scarce, Gaza surfers said.
- Palestinian Tahseen Abu Assi and Khalil Abu Jiab surfed in the Mediterranean Sea off Gaza City on Monday, finding fleeting relief amid the territory's ongoing conflict and humanitarian crisis.
- Since Israel's war with Hamas began in October 2023, the military offensive has killed 72,628 Palestinians and injured 172,520 others, dismantling healthcare infrastructure and displacing most Gaza Strip residents.
- After Israel banned surfboards and declared Gaza's waters a "no-go zone," only three or four men remain able to surf using equipment they maintained through the two-year war, as no boards have entered since 2007.
- Abu Assi said, "During the war, in the middle of the bombing and the planes above us, we used to go down and practice this sport." Surfers drop everything when waves rise high enough.
- Entering waters off Gaza City remains dangerous due to frequent Israeli patrols, with the United Nations reporting that some fishermen were attacked onshore and at sea since the war began.
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Surfers in war-torn Gaza find rare moments of joy in the waves
Despite the dire humanitarian crisis across the Gaza Strip, where a fragile ceasefire remains in place, a handful of Palestinian surfers are finding joy — and relief — riding the waves of the territory's Mediterranean coastal waters.
Associated Press News
Surfers in war-torn Gaza find rare moments of joy taking to the waves
Despite the dire situation in Gaza, a few surfers find joy riding the waves. Tahseen Abu Assi, a surfer in Gaza City, says only a few people still surf due to a shortage of boards and repair materials.
Deir Al-Balah. In the midst of the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip and despite the fragile ceasefire in the region, a small group of Palestinian surfers found at sea a way to escape, even for a few moments, from the devastation caused by the Israeli attacks on the Palestinian people. In Gaza City, barely three or four men continue surfing due to the shortage of boards and the lack of materials to repair them, explained Palestinian surfer T…
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