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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Sarah Basford Canales

Out of the rubble and on to the beach: Gaza’s junior surf lifesavers return to the waves after three years of war

Gaza Nippers children on the beach in Gaza, 25 September 2026.
Devised on the shores of Sydney in 2017, the Gaza Nippers program has returned. Photograph: supplied/Shamikh Badra

As a group of smiling children in yellow and black rash vests bundled towards the beach near the Al-Shati refugee camp through concrete alleys lined with rubbish, rubble and the occasional bullet hole, Hassan Al-Habeel felt joy again.

The Palestinian man, in his 40s, oversaw the return of Gaza Nippers, Palestine’s chapter of the popular Australian junior surf life saving program, last month after three years.

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