Fabrics recovered from the clothes extracted from the rubble of the war between Israel and Hamas, barracks riddled with bullets, streets and buildings gutted. In the devastation of the Gaza Strip, after two years of conflict and a ceasefire during which, according to Palestinian sources, over 1,000 people have been killed since October 2025 due to the continuation of Israeli military operations, a small tailoring workshop stands where ceremonial clothes are made. An unexpected image, made of colored rhinestones and organza fabrics, which gives another face of Khan Younis, in the south of the Strip.
Behind the creations, there is Amir al-Rantisi, a twenty-four-year-old designer who has learned to make elegant clothes despite the shortcomings he has to deal with every day, making them with remnants of recycled fabrics or to which he gives new life. “When I go to Gaza City to look for fabrics, I recover them in destroyed places, among old stocks of fabric still available, partly burned or damaged by grenade splinters”, explains the designer to AFP, which produced a reportage. In her workshop, scraps of fabric are stacked on a table amidst piles of old clothes waiting to be transformed.
Each stage of packaging represents a challenge and carrying out the task requires a good sense of improvisation. «We suffer a lot from power cuts», reports his mother, Nisreen: «Sometimes we have orders or jobs that cannot be completed» precisely because of the lack of electricity. We then roll up our sleeves and “the stitching is done manually”, albeit with different times and forces.
The cost of materials then skyrocketed. With restrictions on imports into Gaza, many goods have become difficult to obtain. «The spool of black thread – Amir points out – can no longer be found or, when it is found, it costs 50 shekels (about 15 euros, ed.)»: previously it cost 7 shekels, more or less two euros.
Yet we move forward, reaping small and great satisfactions: a little girl from the area twirls the flounces of the white skirt dotted with silver that she is trying to wear. A shy smile lights up her face. (aquiline jade)
