A program born in Sydney

Gaza Nippers, Palestine's chapter of an Australian junior surf lifesaving program, was first devised on Sydney's shores in two thousand seventeen.

War stops the program

By October two thousand twenty three, the program was indefinitely suspended as Israel began its invasion into Gaza after Hamas militants attacked southern Israel, killing one thousand two hundred people, mostly civilians.

The toll on the children

Of the forty five children in the original program, only fifteen have been found alive. The rest remain missing, uncontactable or have died as a result of the conflict.

Hassan Al-Habeel's loss

Hassan Al-Habeel, a Palestinian man in his forties who oversaw the program, lost his fifteen year old son Ali to the war.

A father's grief and hope

Al-Habeel said he wanted to prepare Ali to be a lifeguard to teach children to swim on Gaza's shores."But unfortunately, the war took Ali from us as it took many children in Gaza," he said.

“But unfortunately, the war took Ali from us as it took many children in Gaza.”

Finding the survivors

Shamikh Badra, the program's co-founder who lives in Australia, worked with Al-Habeel to track down the children. Some had fled south toward the Egyptian border or could not be reached during the conflict.

Preparing to restart

Badra and Al-Habeel spent months finding the right time to return without endangering the children. Even after the ceasefire was agreed to last October, intermittent bombings and increased tensions repeatedly forced the launch date back.

The program returns

On twenty five September two thousand twenty six, Gaza Nippers returned to the beach near the Al-Shati refugee camp.

A ray of hope

Christine Stewart Gibbs, former North Steyne RSLC president, called seeing the footage of happy children in Gaza a miracle.

“There's no good news coming out of Gaza, and this felt like a ray of hope.”

Plans for next summer

The Gaza Nippers program is planned to return again next summer. Badra says these children need to live in peace like all children around the world, not isolated under occupation, siege and blockade.