‘They severed my gymnast limbs’: Israeli bombing shatters Gaza teen’s dream

Ahmed al-Ghalban spent nine years training as a gymnast and refused to let 16 months of Israeli war and displacement erase that effort.

Even under bombing and constant expulsion orders, he and his twin brother, Muhammad, kept practising in their makeshift shelter in central Gaza, clinging to their dream of becoming coaches and representing Palestine on the international stage.

But three months after returning to northern Gaza earlier this year, Ghalban sat in a tent at the Islamic University - both legs gone, his twin brother dead, and his future shattered.

“I started gymnastics at seven,” Ghalban, now 16, told Middle East Eye. 

“Muhammad and I trained at a club and school. We progressed fast, started coaching beginners and even performed for foreign visitors. We were meant to perform in Egypt, but the war started before we could go.

Read more: ‘They severed my gymnast limbs’: Israeli bombing shatters Gaza teen’s dream