By Arafat Barbakh
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (Reuters) – Displaced Gazan children clapped, sang and jumped up and down clasping a giant multi-coloured parachute, rare moments of fun as the truce between Israel and Hamas gave an opportunity for a youth group to entertain them in a school courtyard.
The war has turned Gaza’s schools into overcrowded camps for displaced people, where children have been enduring the fear of bombardment, displacement from their homes and shortages of food, water and electricity.
“We were very scared from the war,” said Lina Mohareb, a young girl in a pink sweatshirt with a Palestinian flag painted on her cheek.
She was taking part in games and activities organised at the Abdullah Siam school in Khan Younis by Watan Youth Centre, a local civil society organisation that has held similar events at 26 schools.
“As soon as they arrived, we all ran towards them. They played some Palestinian songs for us and we performed the dabke (a folk dance) and sang and played some games. We had so much fun today,” said Mohareb.
The children stood in a large circle around a row of yellow plastic cones, with entertainers dressed up in costumes of cartoon characters, as adults looked on, leaning on the railings of the school’s upper floors which overlooked the courtyard.
Clothes were hanging on the railings, and people had suspended pieces of fabric across doorways and along corridors to provide a modicum of privacy in what was now a living space rather than an educational setting.
“Palestinian children and especially Gazan children are the best in the world, because they’ve endured so many things,” said Samer Nofal, the team leader from Watan Youth Centre, listing the hardships of the war.
“We took advantage of this truce to organise these events to entertain the children and ease away their stress,” he said. “They deserve to play and be happy.”
The war began on Oct. 7 when militants from Hamas, the Islamist group that runs Gaza, rampaged through southern Israel, killing 1,200 people, including babies and children, and seizing about 240 hostages of all ages, according to Israeli figures.
Vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel launched an assault on Gaza that has killed more than 15,000 people, four in ten of them children, according to health officials there. It has displaced most of the population into schools and camps.
Wednesday was the sixth day of a truce between Israel and Hamas that has allowed for the release of some Israeli and foreign hostages as well as Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons. More aid trucks have been allowed into Gaza. Diplomatic efforts were underway to try and extend the truce.
“I am so happy with the games, and I am so happy with this truce,” said Gilnar Ahmed, another displaced girl at the Abdullah Siam school. “Hopefully the truce continues.”
(Writing by Estelle Shirbon; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
