Skate Through the Rubble: Mobile Skatepark Brings Joy and Trauma Relief to Gaza’s Children

Skating amid the ruins

Amid the shattered streets and collapsed buildings of Gaza City, a travelling skatepark is offering rare moments of play and psychological relief to children living through one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises. Volunteer coaches move between displacement camps to run sessions that give traumatised youngsters short windows of normalcy and community.

Since a fragile ceasefire took effect on October 10, skateboard coaches have improvised training areas in the few flat courtyards that remain and turned piles of rubble into makeshift ramps. The activity provides both recreation and a communal way for children to process fear and loss.

Coaches, resilience and scarce equipment

“We used to have skateparks in the Gaza Strip; this was our dream here in Gaza,” said Rajab al-Reifi, a volunteer coach. “But after we finally built them, the war came and destroyed everything.”

“We don’t have enough skateboards for everyone, and there is no protective gear,” said coach Rimas Dalloul. “Their clothes are all they have to cushion them when they fall. They get injured sometimes, but they always come back. The desire to play is stronger than the pain.”

With supplies scarce across Gaza, every wheel and plank of wood is precious. Coaches spend hours repairing battered boards because replacements are nearly impossible to obtain. Beginners practise in the few intact courtyards while more experienced children use rubble and collapsed walls as improvised obstacles.

Children, trauma and the wider crisis

Seven-year-old Marah Salem, who has been training for seven months, said: “I come here to have fun. I don’t want to skip any sessions; I want to be consistent. Even during the war, I used to skateboard. I used to run away from the bombardment to skate on the streets.” Her determination mirrors a broader resilience among Gaza’s children after nearly two years of sustained conflict.

Humanitarian organisations had already identified more than one million Palestinian children in need of mental-health support before the latest escalation. Reports indicate that Israeli forces have killed at least 260 Palestinians and wounded 632 since the truce began on October 10, with attacks recorded on many days during the period that followed.

At least 17,000 children are now unaccompanied or separated from their parents, and child-protection cases rose by 48% in September, according to the International Rescue Committee. More than 658,000 school-age children have been without regular access to education for almost two years, compounding the psychological toll.

Play as recovery

For participants, the skate sessions restore a fragment of what war tries to take away: the simple freedom of childhood play. They are children laughing, falling, getting up and pushing forward—both literally on their boards and metaphorically through the rubble of their lives. In a place where formal mental-health resources are overwhelmed, grassroots activities like skateboarding offer practical, immediate relief and a space for community healing.