In Gaza, scouts’ community-building and survival skills are a new lifeline

The Palestinian Scouts Association, once a recreational outlet, is deploying volunteers to help people displaced by war

Sahar Abu Zeid was perhaps an unlikely member of the Gaza City branch of the Palestinian Scout Association. She first got involved in 2017, aged 25, shortly after finishing an accounting degree, and quickly fell in love with the outdoor lifestyle and sense of community the organisation provided.

Before the new war between Hamas and Israel, scouting was one of the only affordable and accessible recreational outlets in the isolated Palestinian territory, she said. Now, the practical and teamwork skills Abu Zeid learned are being put to use in previously unimaginable circumstances.