
In the besieged Gaza Strip, a group of bodybuilders are fighting a different kind of battle.
Amidst the devastating humanitarian crisis caused by Israel’s blockade, these athletes are struggling to maintain their physical strength and mental well-being.
The tent gym in al-Mawasi, where they train, is a makeshift sanctuary, using equipment salvaged from a destroyed fitness center.

Tareq Abu Youssef, a 23-year-old Palestinian bodybuilder, has seen his weight drop from 72kg to 58kg since March, due to the severe restrictions on food deliveries. “But if eating has become an abnormality in Gaza, working out for bodybuilders like us is one rare way to maintain normalcy,” he says.
Despite the challenges, Abu Youssef and his fellow athletes continue to train, albeit with reduced frequency and intensity. “Starvation has completely affected my ability to practice my favourite sport of bodybuilding,” he adds.

Coach Adly al-Assar, a former international powerlifting champion, has adapted his training methods to suit the famine conditions. “The recommendations are strict to shorten training duration and increase rest periods,” he warns.
“We’re living a deadly starvation crisis, and training might stop altogether if circumstances continue this way.” Al-Assar’s own body weight has dropped 11kg, and his athletes have lost significant muscle mass.
For these athletes, the tent gym represents more than physical training – it’s psychological survival.
Khaled Al-Bahabsa, 29, who returned to training after being injured in Israeli shelling, says, “Sports give life and psychological comfort. We were closer to the dead even though we were alive.”

Al-Bahabsa’s experience is echoed by Ali al-Azraq, 20, who was displaced from central Gaza and sees the gym as a way to hold onto his dreams of competing in arm-wrestling competitions.
The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is dire, with 2.1 million Palestinians facing “catastrophic” levels of food insecurity, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The World Food Programme warns that without immediate intervention, famine will spread across all of Gaza. As Abu Youssef says, “I’m hungry all the time and calculate my one training day per week – how will I manage my food afterward?”

Despite the bleak circumstances, these bodybuilders remain determined to preserve their passion for sports and their sense of normalcy in a war-torn environment.