From card games to horseback rides, women in Gaza spend their summer nights outdoors seeking solace from the daily hardships in the Palestinian enclave.
“We wait until the sun goes down to escape to the sea,” said Yusra Hmedat, 43, while playing cards at a beachside cafe in Gaza City.
“Women are leaving their homes from the pressures of life and trying to stay out as long as possible,” the official said while arranging her cards.
Fifteen years after an Israeli-led blockade of Gaza, residents of the densely populated area are suffering regular power outages amid the sweltering summer heat.
One of Hmedat’s competitors, Nawal Yassin, said she often gets home at 2 or 3 a.m.
“Women try harder than men to adapt and master the circumstances,” says the 66-year-old.
At another cafe northwest of the city, housewife Umm Saeed described their late-night rendezvous as a way to deal with the effects of repeated wars between militant Palestinians and Israel.
“We try to overcome the stress by getting out there, sharing our worries and sympathizing with one another,” she said.
“You see people laughing, but inside everyone is mentally devastated.”
Umm Saeed said she spends all her disposable income at the cafe, which is about 15 shekels (US$4.50) a day.
But with Gaza’s unemployment rate rising to 47 percent over the past year, according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, such excursions are an unaffordable luxury for many.
In the Al-Shati refugee camp overlooking the sea, Faten Abdul Rahman instead sits outside with her daughters and neighbors.
“Most of the women in the camp gather on the doorstep because of the bad economic situation,” says Rahman, who depends on welfare to support her seven children.
“The heat at home is unbearable. We spread a sheet and sit on the beach with the guests, that’s the only free entertainment,” she added.
Turning on fans or air conditioners is often out of the question in Gaza, where residents received an average of 11 hours of electricity a day over the past month.
On August 7, during recent fighting between Palestinian militants and Israel, that dropped to just five hours, data from the UN Humanitarian Aid Organization (OCHA) shows.
– feel human –
Women like Umm Jaber Abu Assi minimize their expenses by going to the park, bringing home baked goods and renting a chair for a shekel.
“If we went to the sea, I would have to pay more,” she said as a crowd of women and children gathered in the park west of Gaza City.
“There is a lack of options in Gaza; leaving the house (makes us) feel like human beings,” said the 43-year-old, who is sometimes criticized for coming home after midnight.
“I don’t care about the criticism. I go home with my daughter not afraid (because) the streets are crowded,” she said.
For some women, sports such as horseback riding are offered every night.
In a club southwest of Gaza City, 22-year-old Menna Kahil feeds her horse Ripple.
“I spend most of my time here in the evenings. I’m afraid to go to public places alone in the evenings for fear of being shot or rocket fired,” she said.
At least 49 people have been killed in Gaza this month in three days of cross-border fighting, according to the Health Ministry.
Though she’s been horseback riding for a decade, Kahil says she still feels pressure because of her chosen hobby.
“I get a lot of criticism for not being veiled when I ride my horse by the sea,” she said.
“Although it is only natural – the horses also need a change of atmosphere.”
Outside of the sports club, Mervat al-Ghalayini plays pickleball, which incorporates elements of badminton, tennis, and table tennis.
“I love joining something new,” says the 41-year-old enthusiastically.
“I work in the morning and exercise in the evening; I leave the house to go to a place where there is light and people.”
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