Swimming instruction has resumed in Gaza after three years of conflict, allowing hundreds of children to learn floating, basic paddling and initial strokes inside five temporary ocean pools fashioned from sandbags and debris.

The sessions give several hundred girls and boys a chance to recover fragments of their youth for a short time in an area lacking playgrounds, regular schooling and where youngsters face constant dread from ongoing Israeli strikes. A UN poll from March showed 96% of children sensed death was near.

"Swimming lets me get away from the fighting and the concerns I face daily," said Alma Shabat, 13, who witnessed her mother die during an Israeli attack in May.

After three weeks of lessons, her preferred style is freestyle, she has formed new friendships and she no longer fears the waves or open water. "Visiting the shore brings a lovely and pleasant time," she said.

Amjed Tantesh, who established Gaza's initial swimming school more than twenty years ago, has gathered many volunteers this summer to set up the line of pools along central Gaza shores, using tarpaulins for shade against the strong Mediterranean sun.

With little heavy equipment remaining in Gaza, the team completed all work manually, shifting tons of rubble and packing sandbags to form barriers before digging out sand to make the pools deeper.

Mornings feature free sessions for children who lost parents in Israeli strikes. Afternoons open the pools to all, drawing joyful youngsters playing in the warm water.

"It offers a rare opportunity to have fun, unwind and recover some of their lost youth," said Tantesh, who has also served as a journalist for the Guardian and similar publications. His niece, Seham Tantesh, writes for the Guardian from Gaza. "The pools draw youngsters from across the shore like powerful magnets."

Most Palestinian children have faced prolonged severe trauma. This includes losing or injuring family members, with one in ten of the prewar population killed or hurt in Israeli strikes. Thousands more are believed trapped under debris.

Gaza holds the world's highest number of child amputees. "Disability among Palestinian children has stopped being a personal health issue and has turned into a widespread demographic fact," a UN commission noted in a report on Israel's focus on Palestinian children.

The human-made famine from Israel's blockade last year will cause some children lasting mental and physical harm.

No regular education has occurred for three years, and nearly every school building has suffered damage or destruction. Nearly 700,000 school-age children live in Gaza, yet only a small portion reach the temporary tent schools operated by aid organizations.

Survivors crowd into packed, hot and loud tent camps in just one third of prewar Gaza, lacking proper water or sanitation.

Swimming classes provide a vital break from this harsh situation, both physically and mentally. "Being here lets me practice, play and get fresh air, far from the tents," said Maryam al Musri, 10, who lost her father in the war.

Laila Qahman, 14, who lost her seven-year-old brother when a mosque near his play area was struck and who hopes to become a pharmacist, noted that swimming allows her to relax, cool off and set aside life in a tent.

"I visit every other day because it helps me feel like I am living and enjoying my time, rather than remaining in the tent hearing shelling sounds and dealing with fear and sorrow," she said.

"Before learning to swim, I felt some fear of the sea and lacked the bravery to enter the water. Now, I feel far more assured and no longer fear swimming."

So far 700 children have joined six weeks of classes, and Tantesh aims to instruct thousands more this summer if he secures funds to pay teachers, now all volunteering, and meet other basic costs.

The happiness of these young swimmers has also aided his healing as he grieves his older brother Bahjat, a karate champion killed in an Israeli strike last year while the brothers fled their family home under Israeli evacuation orders.

"Bahjat first taught me to swim, then encouraged me to seek athletic success as a youth," he said. "Having him die in my arms was the hardest thing possible."

The original academy arose from both hope and loss. Palestine debuted at the Olympics in Atlanta in 1996, giving Gaza athletes their initial chance to compete globally, and Tantesh a fresh goal.

"I aimed for the Olympics, but began professional swimming late. So I chose to fulfill my goal through a new generation," he said.

Nearby, each summer saw drowning deaths at sea. Families gathered at the beach to rest and cool off, yet few could swim and no lifeguards patrolled his local shore. Lessons would improve child safety and train future lifeguards, he concluded.

His main hurdle at launch was convincing parents to enroll kids. "People feared water, seeing the sea as a beast that took dozens yearly," he said.

Early years used Gaza's port for lessons, where breakwaters shielded children from waves. Later he built coastal pools for classes, where about 11,000 people learned to swim.

The largest, made from rubble of homes bombed by Israel in 2014, exceeded 1,000 square metres. Israeli strikes since 2023 destroyed all pools, killed dozens of students and at least six coaches, and injured many more.

Restarting seemed nearly impossible. "I had only the sea, yet it remains risky even in summer with jellyfish, high waves, strong currents and rocks," he said.

Thus he devised new pools, for Gaza's children and to honor his brother. Watching youngsters set aside war horrors briefly while diving has also helped his recovery.

"In truth the first person this project aided was myself," he said. "It has brought great happiness and healing. I feel alive once more."