BUREIJ, Gaza Strip (AP) 鈥� Young Palestinian artists in Gaza staged an impromptu exhibit on Tuesday, seeking another way to show the world what has happened during the war and the fragile .
The row of paintings, like much of Gaza life itself, was displayed outdoors, open to the weather and curious stares. There was a painting of a dove, a bullet hole, a person鈥檚 silhouette in a territory where the has killed well over 70,000 people.
It was a sunny day in Bureij in central Gaza. Children shouted and played as admirers of the paintings took photos and reflected.
鈥淭hey painted their feelings, their ambitions, their hopes, their visions, over four months during a continuous workshop in my studio,鈥� said Ghanem Al-Din, who organized the exhibit of dozens of paintings.
One artist was displaced seven times
Obay Al-Qarshali, 21, was one of the artists. He said he fled his home in Gaza City in late 2023 after the war began, sparked by the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel. He took only what he could in his hurry, leaving over 30 of his paintings behind.
They are now lost in the bombing and destruction, he said.
His painting on display showed broken glass, cars topped with mattresses and other belongings and the debris of buildings. All are too familiar for him and hundreds of thousands of fellow Palestinians who have been displaced, often more than once.
Al-Qarshali said he had changed locations at least seven times in the war.
鈥淏ecause of how much we were displaced and suffered in moving and carrying our belongings, the tents, the crowds, and so much more, I wanted to express something that deeply troubled me: that we left our homes and our safe places, forced to flee, scatter, and change our location. This piece expresses so much,鈥� he said.
The timing of next steps in Gaza’s ceasefire is unclear. The is a major challenge before the territory鈥檚 shift in governance, stabilization and reconstruction can begin in earnest.
鈥淐ritical demilitarization talks with Hamas are continuing,” former British prime minister Tony Blair, a key member of the U.S.-created Board of Peace meant to focus on Gaza, told a U.N. Security Council meeting on Tuesday.
Reconstruction likely will cost over $70 billion and take a decade, a report by the United Nations and the European Union said last week.
It said Gaza鈥檚 economy has contracted by 84%. More than 371,000 housing units have been destroyed. Over half of Gaza鈥檚 hospitals are 鈥渘on-functional.鈥� Nearly all schools are destroyed or damaged in the territory of over 2 million people.
In a report on Tuesday, Doctors Without Borders said Israel has destroyed or damaged about 90% of Gaza鈥檚 water and sanitation infrastructure. And a Mercy Corps study found only 7% of Gaza鈥檚 agricultural infrastructure remains functional.
A child collecting firewood is among the dead
While large-scale fighting has eased since the ceasefire took effect in October, Israeli forces have continued near-daily strikes and fire around military-held zones, killing over 800 Palestinians, according to Gaza鈥檚 Health Ministry. The ministry, part of the Hamas-led government, maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. It does not give a breakdown of civilians and militants.
On Tuesday, an Israeli airstrike hit a car in Gaza City, killing four men, according to Shifa Hospital.
The strike happened away from the so-called that separates Israeli-controlled areas from the rest of Gaza. Israel鈥檚 military said it struck a 鈥渢errorist鈥� in the location, with no details.
The bodies were wrapped in white and placed on the ground, outdoors, so a crowd could mourn.
And a 9-year-old boy was killed by Israeli fire while gathering firewood in the southern city of Khan Younis, about 400 meters (1,312 feet) west of the Yellow Line, Nasser Hospital said. Israel鈥檚 military did not immediately comment.
Associated Press video showed siblings crying over the boy at the morgue.
鈥淲hat is the guilt of those children,鈥� a woman said during the funeral. 鈥淕od is plaguing you, Israel.鈥�
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