For most child athletes, playing sports usually takes place in a gymnasium, or in an outdoor or indoor field. But for Wassim Naqqar, the war in Gaza has forced him to practise in unusual places — on top of a torn-down building, in refugee tent camps and sometimes on the sand by the sea.
The 11-year-old snagged first place in gymnastics in the Palestinian territories before the war began. But after being forced to flee northern Gaza in April as fighting escalated in the area, he left Palestine Club in Sheikh Redwan, where he would train in gymnastics, yoga and parkour, a sport that involves running, swinging and vaulting in urban spaces.
His favourite sport of the three? Gymnastics. But because the region is war-torn, he says he often winds up practising it on the rubble.
“When the war started [it] destroyed everything,” Naqqar said.
Gymnastics is something he says he’s mastered: “I don’t let anyone beat me at it.”
Brother, sister killed in war
Naqqar, who began doing parkour and gymnastics at the age of four, was set to participate in competitions in the Middle East, Canada and India. But after the Israel-Hamas war broke out, those dreams were shattered.
Now, Naqqar finds himself doing the splits atop the ruins or rollerblading on gravel through a refugee camp.
Naqqar’s brother, sister, uncle and cousin were all killed in the war. He says his brother was his biggest supporter.
“I have nobody left. Where can we go? There are no more safe places for us to go.”
The war began following the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel where 1,200 people were killed and 250 hostages were taken into Gaza, according to Israeli figures. Israel’s responding incursion into the strip has killed more than 41,000 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Wassim Naqqar, 11, practises his backflips on gravel near a refugee camp set up west of Khan Younis in Gaza, hoping to one day be able to return to his sports club in the north. He and his father recently began training around 60 kids in gymnastics and parkour, to keep them moving, as the Israel-Hamas war nears one year.
Gymnastics paused after father detained
Among those who died in Gaza, were roughly 300 athletes, referees, coaches and others in the sports sector, according to the technical director of the Palestine Olympic Committee who reported the figure to The Associated Press in July.
His father, Hab Al-Din Naqqar, says the family fled northern Gaza on April 28 and headed to Rafah for safety. Just two months later, he says he was detained by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) on June 2 and held for roughly three months.
CBC News reached out to the IDF to ask about Naqqar’s arrest, but it said it could not provide any information or confirm any details.
When Naqqar was released, he says his son wasn’t the same.
“The feeling was, pure torture,” said Naqqam who revealed he couldn’t practise gymnastics at all during the three months his father was away. “I couldn’t see my father being taken in front of me.”
“Currently, we are training Wassim and trying to re-energize him again,” Hab Al-Din Naqqar said. “We’re giving him hope and vitality again.”
As the Israel-Hamas war continues in Gaza after more than three months, these young men find moments of joy as part of a group that does parkour on the remnants of destroyed neighbourhoods. On some days, kids from the nearby refugee camp gather to watch them dash, leap and flip through the ruins.
Training 60 kids in war-torn area
He says he and his son recently started helping to train around 60 kids in gymnastics and parkour. While they just started two weeks ago, Naqqar says it has given them a way to help keep other children moving during the war.
“The athlete who wasn’t killed is wounded. If they’re not wounded, they have anemia from malnourishment,” Hab Al-Din Naqqar said.
“About 90 per cent of the athletes here have lost their athletic abilities.”
With resources scarce under the current circumstances, he says the pair can only do so much to keep sports alive in the region.
As the Israel-Hamas war approaches the one-year mark, Wassim Naqqar said he finds moments of joy through moving himself and continuing to train despite not knowing when he’ll be able to return to the sport.
Whether he’s doing the splits atop the ruins or rollerblading through a refugee camp, he says he hopes to one day be able to return to competitions both local and abroad.
“God willing, the war will end so I can travel and represent Palestine globally and accomplish my brother’s dream [for me],” he said.
