A mobile skatepark moving between displacement camps in Gaza is providing rare mental health support to children trapped in one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises, where trauma and grief are rife.
Amid the wreckage of Gaza City, where collapsed buildings and twisted concrete dominate the landscape, a group of young Palestinians has transformed the destruction into an unlikely playground.
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Since the fragile ceasefire began on October 10, skateboard coaches have been running sessions that offer traumatised children brief moments of freedom and normalcy.
“We used to have skateparks in the Gaza Strip; this was our dream here in Gaza,” said Rajab al-Reifi, one of the coaches working with the children. “But unfortunately, after we finally achieved that dream and built skateparks, the war came and destroyed everything.”
The skateboarding initiative operates against a backdrop of continuing Israeli violence despite the ceasefire.
Israeli forces have killed at least 260 Palestinians and wounded 632 others since the truce began on October 10, with attacks occurring on 25 of the past 31 days.
Making do with what’s left
The sessions face severe challenges.
With equipment shortages across Gaza, every skateboard wheel and piece of wood has become precious. Al-Reifi often repairs damaged boards between sessions, knowing replacements are nearly impossible to obtain.
One of the few flat courtyards to survive Israel’s bombardment provides a training ground for beginners, while more adventurous skaters have turned piles of rubble and collapsed walls into makeshift ramps and obstacles.
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Rimas Dalloul, another dedicated coach, works to keep the children engaged despite the dire conditions.
“We don’t have enough skateboards for everyone, and there is no protective gear,” she explained. “Their clothes are all they have to help cushion them when they fall. They get injured sometimes, but they always come back. The desire to play is stronger than the pain.”
‘I used to run from bombardment to skate’
Among the young skaters is seven-year-old Marah Salem, who has been practicing for seven months.
“I come here to have fun. I don’t want to skip any sessions; I want to be consistent,” she said. “Even during the war, I used to skateboard. I used to run away from the bombardment to skate on the streets.”
Her determination reflects a broader resilience among Gaza’s children, who have endured nearly two years of Israeli military assault.
The skateboarding sessions offer children a form of recreation and a temporary escape, but also a means to process trauma and a communal activity.
The mental health needs of Gaza’s children remain staggering.
Humanitarian organisations had already identified more than one million Palestinian children in need of mental health services before the latest conflict intensified.
The scale of the conflict means no child has been shielded from its psychological impact, with mass displacement, family separations, and widespread casualties affecting the entire young population.
At least 17,000 children are now unaccompanied or separated from their parents, while child protection cases surged by 48 percent in September alone, the International Rescue Committee reports.
For the young skaters, the sessions offer something that war has tried to take away, the simple freedom of childhood play.
Their schools have been decimated, their homes destroyed, and more than 658,000 school-age children have lost access to education for nearly two years.
Yet in the ruins of their neighbourhoods, these children are finding ways to move forward.
They are simply kids on skateboards, laughing, falling, getting back up, and pushing forward – both literally and metaphorically – through the rubble of their shattered world.