On Christmas, a moment of brief cheer for children caught in Gaza war

A pizza-making party on Christmas Eve brought joy – and a brief respite from war – to children in southern Gaza, thanks to a cycling team of amputee athletes who played the collective Santa Claus in the festive season.

The celebration featured a Christmas tree, festive decorations and a newly-constructed food truck, taking the children’s minds off Israel’s year-long war that has caused a widespread food shortage across Palestine's war-torn Gaza.

“People in Gaza are sick of eating tinned foods and plain bread for those lucky enough to find it. It’s been nearly a year of genocide and common comforts are rare to come by,” says Karim Ali, a cofounder of Gaza Sunbirds, the non-governmental organisation that prepared and distributed pizzas among the youth of Al-Zawayde in the southern part of Gaza.

Being the birthplace of Jesus and home to generations of Christians, Palestine has a strong connection to Christmas.

The town of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, the birthplace of Jesus, has cancelled Christmas celebrations for the second year in a row over the war on Gaza, which has killed more than 45,000 people, mostly women and children, since October 2023.

Gaza has the highest number of child amputees per capita in the world, with many losing limbs and undergoing surgeries without even anaesthesia.

According to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, malnutrition is rampant in Gaza while the war-torn territory faces imminent famine amid a collapse of the health system.

Israel, which early in the conflict imposed a complete siege for a period on the territory, has blamed aid issues on what it says is the inability of relief organisations to handle and distribute large quantities of aid.

This is despite the fact that international aid organisations have repeatedly raised alarm over the deteriorating conditions in Gaza, warning that civilians are on the brink of famine.

“Like sports, the feeling of getting a pizza is universal. By teaching kids how to twist the dough and getting the community involved, we make it an opportunity for some much-deserved distraction,” Ali of the amputee athletes’ NGO noted.

Forced to give up training for this year’s Paralympics due to the war, the team of amputee athletes has been delivering food parcels, hot meals, nappies and sanitary products across Gaza since October 2023. Its members have risked their lives to distribute $330,000 of emergency supplies and even built a 25-tent displacement camp.

There have now been 10 events where over 2,500 children have been fed and entertained whilst learning to make 1,100 pizzas since the start of September. The parties have previously taken place in southern Gaza in collaboration with Mohammed al Amareen, Gaza’s renowned pizza chef.

Australian human rights lawyer Chris Sidoti says the number of children killed in Gaza by Israel is the highest in any conflict in this century.

More than 12,000 students in Gaza have been killed and over 20,000 wounded as a result of Israeli attacks, according to the Palestinian Education Ministry. Israel has also killed at least 616 teachers and damaged 90 percent of school buildings in Gaza.

Moreover, about 788,000 students have been deprived of access to schools and universities since October 2023.