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 Mediterranean coastal waves.
Only three or four men still surf due to a shortage of surfboards and the materials needed to fix damaged ones, said Tahseen Abu Assi, a surfer in Gaza City.
Abu Assi carried his surfboard with him through every wartime displacement he endured during the two-year war because he would not be able to replace it if lost, he said.
Photo:AP
“If something happened to it I won’t be able to get another one,” he said, saying that no boards have entered the Palestinian territory since 2007. Surfboards are among sports equipment and other products that are banned by Israel.
Last week, Abu Assi was among three surfers who took to the sea off the Gaza City port, including Khalil Abu Jiab, who surfed the high waves with his arms raised in joy.
After the war began, the Israeli military heavily restricted activity in the waters around Gaza, with the UN reporting that fishermen were attacked onshore or at sea, including incidents involving fishermen using paddle boats.
Photo: AP
Last year, Israel said Gaza’s waters were a “no-go zone,” banning fishing, swimming and sea access, making surfing risky.
Fishing and swimming are prohibited and dangerous in the waters off northern and southern Gaza. It is also risky to enter the waters off central Gaza, where Gaza City is, due to Israeli patrols.
“There is fear of course, but we can’t leave this sport,” Abu Assi said. “During the war, in the middle of the war, in the middle of the bombing and the planes above us, we used to go down and practice this sport.”
Photo: AP
Gaza’s waves rarely rise high enough for surfing, so when they do, surfers drop everything to get in the water, he added.
Intense fighting across the region eased after a shaky ceasefire took effect on Oct. 10, but deadly Israeli strikes have continued, as Hamas and Israel each each say the other violated the truce.
Israel’s war with Hamas broke out in 2023 after the militants attacked southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people. Israel’s military offensive in Gaza has killed 72,628 Palestinians and injured 172,520 others, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Palestinians continue to struggle to secure food, clean water, medical care and shelter after the war caused widespread destruction, dismantled healthcare infrastructure and displaced most of the territory’s residents.
For the territory’s few surfers, there is relief, even if only fleeting, when they take to the waves.
“As soon as the sea gets high, you leave your work and leave your whole life,” Abu Assi said. “Work can be caught up on, as they say. We go practice this sport.”
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