In the Gaza Strip, the sea is now the only refuge for residents seeking a few precious moments of respite from the harsh realities of war or the scorching summer heat. Despite the immense dangers surrounding this journey, the threat of death looms large, whether from Israeli warplanes flying over Gaza or from the gunfire of warships that impose a blockade on the sea.
The tents are like ovens,
and with the sweltering summer heat of Gaza, whether inside the remaining homes, most of which have been partially destroyed, or in the displacement camps whose inhabitants have lost their homes to the destruction, the only escape from the bitter reality is the sea. There, the cool breezes caress them, and the blue expanse of the sea offers a refuge from the scenes of devastation that fill the streets of Gaza.
In Gaza, summer weather is characterized by soaring temperatures and humidity, sometimes approaching 40 degrees Celsius and exceeding 45 degrees Celsius inside the plastic tents of displacement camps, which become like ovens this summer. These factors exacerbate the feeling of suffocation among residents who have been facing difficult living conditions for more than two and a half years due to the war that Israel launched in October 2013.
Samah Abdel Karim, in her mid-fifties, who lives in the central Gaza Strip with her family of seven, says that the family home, located in the middle of a densely populated residential neighborhood and partially destroyed in the war, lacks ventilation or cooling due to the power outages since the beginning of the war. This makes coping with the summer heat impossible, especially with the dangerous spread of insects. This woman, a university graduate who, along with her husband, manages the household and their children, explained that since the start of the heatwave in May, her most recent visit to the Gaza beach, during which she met with Al-Quds Al-Arabi, was her third, a desperate attempt to escape the summer's scorching heat. She emphasized that she only allows herself to sit and not let her children enter the water, given the warnings about the pollution caused by the pumping of untreated sewage, a situation imposed by the war.
Samah explained that her family, like other Gaza residents, feels suffocated in the crowded living areas with every rise in temperature, and that the only refuge for them is the beach, after most of the public parks near their homes were destroyed.
Some cafes have reopened on the beach in various parts of the Gaza Strip, offering patrons accommodation under palm-frond canopies and cold drinks. These cafes are currently crowded with beachgoers, while other families are forced to sit under small tents they make themselves near the shore.
With no other refuge
, on the beach adjacent to the town of Al-Zawaida in the central Gaza Strip, where the seawater is slightly cleared of sewage pollutants, Khaled Mohsen carried his baby daughter in his arms, walking slowly across the first waves so her small body could touch the cool sea and feel a little bit of coolness.
This young man told Al-Quds Al-Arabi that he feels sorry for his three-and-a-half-year-old daughter when he is helpless to provide her with anything to cool her down inside their makeshift tent, after they were forced to flee their family home in an area beyond the "yellow line."
This young man spends about 10 hours with his family, including his parents and wife, on this visit to the sea. The trip begins at midday and ends when the oppressive darkness of Gaza descends. He says that these hours, dedicated to recreation and escaping the realities of war, are filled with apprehension, recalling the Israeli airstrikes carried out by drones or warships from time to time, targeting beachgoers. The most recent attack, just two weeks ago, targeted an area near the Gaza City port, killing several people, including children. However, he points out that the lack of alternatives forces him, like other Gazans, to constantly visit the sea.
In all areas of Gaza beyond the "yellow line" (the Green Line), along the coast, large numbers of people seeking refuge from the summer heat are scattered. Many displaced families have even chosen the beach as their temporary shelter, a phenomenon clearly visible in the Al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, and in the fishermen's port area of Gaza City.
Before the war, the Gaza sea was the most prominent outlet for the Strip's residents, alongside public parks and water parks. However, the deliberate destruction inflicted by Israel on the Gaza Strip, which destroyed approximately 70 percent of buildings and infrastructure, left the residents with little more than the sea.
Escaping reality
, on weekend and during periods of high temperatures, large numbers of people of all ages flock to the Gaza beach. Abu Muhammad, who owns a beachside cafe, told Al-Quds Al-Arabi that at times he can't find seats for customers due to the sheer number of people seeking refuge from the summer heat in their homes and displacement camps. He added that those he sees enjoying themselves most are the elderly, many of whom suffer from high blood pressure, those who are struggling with the heat, and young children.
Basma al-Najjar, displaced and living near the Khan Younis coast, says she visits the sea with her family almost daily, especially in the late afternoon, seeking the cool breezes and escaping the hell of their tents. "There are no fans or air conditioners in our displacement tents," she adds, "and the temperatures make the tent like an oven."
Many young men in Gaza walk to the sea daily to escape their harsh reality. Hussam, a 25-year-old, says that he and his friends make a point of walking to the sea most evenings, sitting in a high place, and feeling the cool breezes. They return to their shelters as darkness falls.
Many tents belonging to displaced people, who have nowhere else to go due to the limited space in the displacement camps and the large number of displaced people, are scattered along the Gaza beach. This has drastically altered the usual appearance of the Gaza coast.
The only outlet for the residents of Gaza has not been spared the ravages of war, as the view is very different from what it was before. In some coastal areas and close to vacationers, you can find tons of waste collected by local authorities, because Israel does not allow it to be transported to the main dumps near the border. In those areas, scenes of rubble are also embodied, after Israel deliberately destroyed many buildings and facilities near the coast. In some areas of the sea, the smell of wastewater is overwhelming, which local authorities are forced to pump without treatment, due to the lack of sufficient fuel and the capabilities of treatment plants.
The Gaza City Municipality, the largest municipality in the Gaza Strip, has warned of serious environmental and health consequences resulting from the continued pumping of untreated sewage directly into the sea. This is due to damage to pumping stations and pipelines, coupled with a shortage of fuel needed to operate them, threatening public health and leading to a severe environmental degradation in the Strip.
Municipalities across the Gaza Strip pump approximately 80,000 cubic meters of untreated sewage into the sea daily, posing a serious threat to the marine environment and increasing the risk of disease outbreaks among residents. The Gaza Municipality emphasizes that the sea, which is the only recreational outlet for the population, has become polluted and a danger to public health.
