Sport
Mideast: Gaza kids seek kite-flying record
Beit Lahiya, 30 July (AKI) - Thousands of children in Gaza's northern city of Beit Lahiya were on Thursday hoping to smash the world record for the number of kites flying in the same place at the same time. The current world record was set last August in Germany when 710 kites were flown simultaneously on a North Sea beach.
The Beit Lahiya kite-flying contest is part of the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA’s summer games programme.
The programme is providing entertainment and some remedial education for 250,000 children in Gaza this summer, who cannot leave the coastal strip and have few facilities available to help pass the two-and-a-half month school break.
The programme offers sports activities, games and tutoring to Gazan children in 152 locations throughout the territory.
The programme has been running since 2007 and is immensely popular with the children, according to UNRWA.
A total 25 camps are being held on the beach, allowing children to swim - along with kite-flying this is one of the most popular activities on offer.
This year's activities range from sports to theatre, traditional Palestinian folk dancing and arts and crafts. Children taking part in the camps prepare for musical concerts, plays and sports competitions.
The children say the activities help them stop thinking about the devastating 22-day Israeli military offensive against the ruling Islamist Hamas in Gaza in January and in December last year.
Some 1,400 Palestinians died during the offensive and more than 5,400 were injured, according to UN figures.
Medical officials said the Palestinian dead included at least 700 civilians, many of them women and children.
The Israeli military operation and blockade caused widespread destruction and hardship. Some 50,000 homes were destroyed, as well as 29 mosques, two churches and 200 schools during Israel's military action called Operation Cast Lead.
"Morale is amazing among children in Gaza considering what they went through for over three weeks," UNRWA spokesman Christoper Gunness told Adnkronos International (AKI).
"We have employed hundreds of psycho-social counsellors who report that many children are still very, very traumatised," he said.
The Beit Lahiya kite-flying contest is part of the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA’s summer games programme.
The programme is providing entertainment and some remedial education for 250,000 children in Gaza this summer, who cannot leave the coastal strip and have few facilities available to help pass the two-and-a-half month school break.
The programme offers sports activities, games and tutoring to Gazan children in 152 locations throughout the territory.
The programme has been running since 2007 and is immensely popular with the children, according to UNRWA.
A total 25 camps are being held on the beach, allowing children to swim - along with kite-flying this is one of the most popular activities on offer.
This year's activities range from sports to theatre, traditional Palestinian folk dancing and arts and crafts. Children taking part in the camps prepare for musical concerts, plays and sports competitions.
The children say the activities help them stop thinking about the devastating 22-day Israeli military offensive against the ruling Islamist Hamas in Gaza in January and in December last year.
Some 1,400 Palestinians died during the offensive and more than 5,400 were injured, according to UN figures.
Medical officials said the Palestinian dead included at least 700 civilians, many of them women and children.
The Israeli military operation and blockade caused widespread destruction and hardship. Some 50,000 homes were destroyed, as well as 29 mosques, two churches and 200 schools during Israel's military action called Operation Cast Lead.
"Morale is amazing among children in Gaza considering what they went through for over three weeks," UNRWA spokesman Christoper Gunness told Adnkronos International (AKI).
"We have employed hundreds of psycho-social counsellors who report that many children are still very, very traumatised," he said.
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