Swimming classes have resumed on the beaches of central Gaza after three years of war, using five makeshift sea pools constructed from sandbags and rubble, according to a feature report published by The Guardian on July 25, 2026.

The pools were built by hand. Volunteers moved rubble, filled sandbags, and excavated sand because very little heavy machinery remains in the territory. Amjed Tantesh, who founded Gaza's first swimming academy more than two decades ago, mobilized dozens of volunteers in the summer of 2026 to construct the pools. Tantesh has worked as a journalist for The Guardian and other outlets; his niece, Seham Tantesh, reports for The Guardian from Gaza.

Morning swimming classes are free for children whose parents were killed in Israeli attacks. Afternoon sessions are open to all children. The program operates amid conditions that The Guardian's reporting describes in granular detail: survivors are living in crowded tent camps in roughly one-third of Gaza's prewar territory, without adequate water or sanitation.

Three days before publishing the feature article, The Guardian released a "Today in Focus" podcast episode on July 22, 2026, in which Tantesh speaks directly about rebuilding five pools on the beach and children restarting swimming lessons. The El País had previously reported on Tantesh's swimming school in June 2024, describing him as the coach and founder of the northern Gaza swimming school, more than two years before the current classes resumed.

The swimming classes operate against a backdrop of educational and psychological collapse. There has been no formal schooling in Gaza for three years, and almost all school buildings have been damaged or destroyed. Nearly 700,000 school-age children live in Gaza; only a minority have access to makeshift tent schools run by aid groups. A UN survey in March 2026 found that 96% of children in Gaza felt death was imminent. The UN described the situation as "a widespread mental health emergency," reporting that rates of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety are widespread among adolescents and youth, and that girls are at heightened risk within the crisis (UN News).

The physical toll is equally severe. Gaza has the highest concentration of child amputees in the world, according to a UN commission report on Israel's targeting of Palestinian children. One in ten of Gaza's prewar population was killed or injured in Israeli attacks, with thousands more thought to be buried under rubble. Israel's siege of Gaza caused a human-made famine that, per The Guardian's reporting, will leave some children with lifelong mental and physical stunting.

Separate reporting from the same period underscores the broader context of children seeking relief from summer heat. Reuters reported on July 21, 2026, that displaced Palestinian children played in a makeshift pool to cool down at a tent camp in Gaza City. The Chosun, a major South Korean newspaper, reported on July 20, 2026, that children played in a makeshift pool at a tent village in the Gaza Strip on July 17.

The broader context here is the gap between what a swimming class can offer and the scale of what has been lost. Tantesh's program reaches a subset of Gaza's children for a portion of the day. The UN's March 2026 findings, the destruction of the school system, and the famine's long-term effects on child development collectively describe a generational crisis that no volunteer-built pool can resolve. What the classes do provide is structure, physical activity, and a measure of routine for children who have lived without formal schooling, adequate shelter, or psychological safety for three years. Whether such community-led initiatives can scale, or whether they remain isolated interventions amid the territory's broader collapse, depends on conditions well beyond the beaches of central Gaza.