Palestinian Paints Murals on Rubble Amid War on Gaza

Rafah, Gaza Strip, Palestine — Artist Amal Abu Al-Sabah, 26, paints on houses bombed by Israel during their war on Gaza. Her message to the world: “That the Israeli aggression must cease once and for all. And that no more aggression should ever afflict Gaza again.”

“I search everywhere for a fitting piece of wall,” said Al-Sabah while near the rubble of “one of the destroyed houses in Rafah” that she painted a mural on. Al-Sabah uses water colors and a paint brush “to express the dire situation” that Palestinians in Gaza are “currently living in.”

“Each drawing I create serves as a symbolic representation of peace and freedom, because we love freedom,” she said while standing near the mural. “Just like everybody else across the globe.”

She’s one of more than 1.9 million Palestinians forcibly displaced by Israel over the last 109 days. She said she’s been displaced several times since October 7 and that she left all her artwork, “aspirations, and dreams” in her home. “My bedroom was filled with so much of my artwork, from paintings to colors and everything else.”

Over 25,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 70% of residential homes have been destroyed by Israel since Oct. 7. “My entire region has been completely destroyed. Due to what happened in my region, I’ve experienced multiple displacements before finally reaching Rafah Governorate,” said Al-Sabah.

Palestinian visual artist Amal Abu Al-Sabah was displaced from Gaza to Rafah due to the bombing and the occupation’s destruction of her home. She embodies the suffering of the Palestinian people as a result of the continuation of the Israeli war against civilians in the Gaza… pic.twitter.com/5P1wkHmfpX
— Mohamed el saife (@Mohamedelsaife2) January 4, 2024