(Web Desk) - The colourful kites fluttering in the skies of Rafah belie the reality they soar over: ragged tents packed tightly together, and lines of people trying to find food, water, and firewood.
Running in and out of it all are children, brief smiles illuminating their exhausted faces as they look up at their flying miracles.
That such a simple toy can bring them moments of joy is in and of itself a miracle – and proof of the undefeatable spirit of children who manage this in the midst of rubble, death, displacement, hunger, and freezing cold as Israel’s brutal war on Gaza nears five months.
More than 1.3 million people are displaced in Rafah right now, a density that is in the top three worldwide.
Only these people are not living in highrises or modern cities: they are packed tightly together in makeshift tents.
Tariq Khalaf, 12, has a kite, and he’s very proud of the fact.
“When the sun rose, I came out of the tent to sit here on the sand,” he says. “I saw some kids flying kites and I asked them how I could get one, too.
“I had sticks, but didn’t have the paper so I found someone who had some paper and asked him. He made one for me and one for his son and now I can come out and play all day with my kite.
“It’s so nice to watch it rise into the sky with the wind, and to run along with it, me and my friends from the tents nearby.”
Pride and happiness are in Tariq’s words, showing how much he missed playing and being outside doing everyday things with friends.
“We can’t play … we used to play football but there’s no space here between the tents. You can’t play and run like I used to in the field next to our house.”
Tariq and his family were displaced from their home in Nassr in Gaza, to al-Shifa Hospital, then to Khan Younis. Finally, they ended up in Rafah.
“We left the house because of the bombing … we were screaming from the sound of the explosions,” he says. “My father was [always] trying to find food through aid or people distributing food to the displaced.
“I would spend my time running around the schoolyard [in Khan Younis] or just sitting in the corner waiting for the night so I could sleep.”