Gaza City, Gaza Strip – Ahmed Abu Haseira stands waist-deep among swimmers, scanning the crowded water and gesturing with his hands, moving people away from any potential dangers. The lifeguard moves along the Gaza City shoreline, keeping a close eye on children and tracking swimmers as they disappear beneath the waves and re-emerge. When he needs anyone’s immediate attention, he blows a whistle – one that is shared between lifeguards as they change shifts.
The 33-year-old used to have one of his own, but it is now buried beneath his home. An Israeli attack in August 2024 destroyed the house, killing Abu Haseira’s wife, three of his children, his father and other members of his family. He was at the home when the attack happened, having finished a shift at the beach just half an hour before.
After surviving his injuries, he returned to the water. This is one of the few places Palestinians can enjoy life in a Gaza battered by Israel’s genocidal war. For an afternoon, people can enjoy the beaches, seeking relief from the heat, displacement and the pressures of the ongoing war.
Abu Haseira and his colleagues spend long hours watching over them, often without the equipment that once made the job possible. The lifeguards don’t have loudspeakers, rescue buoys or watchtowers, and rely largely on their eyes, voices and hand signals to keep swimmers safe. About 120 lifeguards are currently employed along the beaches covered by Gaza Municipality, according to Ibrahim Shamlakh, the head of the municipality’s marine rescue department.
Before the war, the number was closer to 140. The lifeguards work in two shifts, from 8am to 2pm and from 2pm to 8pm. Shamlakh, who has worked in marine rescue for about 27 years, says the team has tried to beef up its presence this summer, despite losing much of the infrastructure and equipment they once relied on as a result of a war that has devastated much of Gaza.
Each tower was about 3.3 metres high and equipped with sound systems, communication equipment and rescue gear. Lifeguards work from ground-level tents or from makeshift structures, leaving them with a much narrower field of vision. Shamlakh says lifeguards deal with between 20 and 50 rescue incidents on an average day, with the number rising sharply when the beach is particularly crowded.
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