As the sky above Gaza shook with the sound of a distant explosion, Mohamed Hatem held on tightly to the cracked framework of the wall outside the shattered building.
He’s there to do more muscle-ups. This is one of the hardest and most difficult gym exercises imaginable. This is because you have to lift your entire body weight repeatedly onto the gymnastic bar.
Hatem, 19, doesn’t have the luxury of a bar. Just merciless concrete spikes that can tear your hands apart if you’re not careful. But for the teenager, a refugee from the devastated city of Khan Younis, bodybuilding was a valuable distraction during the ongoing war in Gaza.
“I try to escape this scary reality by exercising,” he told Al Jazeera. “It’s like being outside Gaza. This is the feeling that gets me when I do bodybuilding.”
After more than a year of Israeli shelling, airstrikes and ground attacks that killed more than 44,000 people and left many survivors starving, the young man took up bodybuilding to cope with the immeasurable stress of living in a war zone. .
Hatem has been displaced 10 times since the war began 13 months ago and, like many others, often struggles with severe food shortages.
His real strength lies in creativity. He works out in a small room at his grandmother’s house in Khan Younis using makeshift equipment including weights made from buckets, a car battery tied with rope, a school bag full of salvaged items and bricks pulled from nearby rubble.
This room became a sanctuary for Hatem, one of the two million people displaced by the war. His family’s home was destroyed by Israeli airstrikes early in the war, and despite limited resources and constant upheaval, he becomes obsessed with the pursuit of physical fitness as a form of resilience.
“Since the war began, my dream of building a strong body has faced unimaginable challenges,” he says. “But I decided to keep trying, using what I could find to replace traditional weights.”
According to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Israel’s war in Gaza has resulted in the following traumatic experiences:chronic and persistent” Because there is no place safe in Gaza and the available resources for survival are minimal. UNRWA said in August that the war “runs counter to the traditional biomedical definition of post-traumatic stress disorder, given the absence of a ‘post’ in the context of Gaza.”
For Hatem, bodybuilding was an escape.
“Sports also reduce the tension and fear we live in and the bleak picture that is our reality and our future. It is a fundamental element of my mental health, and I find psychological solace through participation in sport and with friends,” he explains.
Taking ‘Gym Motivation’ to a New Level
As Israel’s supplies of strips and household necessities run low for its trapped population, Hatem finds new ways to stay motivated.
he is Instagram He posted more than 130 videos on his page in April, sharing snippets of his life, including his workouts and meals of canned beans and lentils, exposing the lack of fresh food in Gaza. The video has seen more than 183,000 people from all over the world, from the United States, Pakistan, India, Jordan, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, admire his unwavering passion for bodybuilding. Some of his videos have received millions of views.
A constant self-improver, Hatem has already taught herself English during the COVID-19 lockdown. He chose that language to convey his message to a wider global audience in his social media posts. Because we know that many people in Gaza are already creating content for Arabic-speaking audiences. His goal is to use his story to build bridges and amplify the current Palestinian experience.
“My page is called Gym Rat in Gaza because I want to reach people around the world in English and show them that even in Gaza we have dreams and goals,” explains Hatem.
The video clip focuses on his strict daily regimen to keep his body in shape in the cramped, shared room where he and his extended family try to create a sense of routine, but he says the purpose of his Instagram account is not personal.
“This is a national humanitarian message about the genocide that is happening to us. It is true that it affects me, but I express the experience of people living in war,” Hatem told Al Jazeera.
His bodybuilding journey, which began four years ago, was encouraged by his parents, and the training required for the sport became a positive outlet for Hatem.
It also introduced the business student to bodybuilding icons he wanted to emulate.
“Many people who follow my story and dedication say I am following Chris’ path.” He says, referring to Chris Bumstead, a six-time Mr. Olympia Classic Physique winner who is also the most popular bodybuilder on the planet.
“I can say that in the world of bodybuilding, Bumstead is a role model and inspiration to me,” the teen added, noting that he had been following the champion’s content long before starting his own bodybuilding and content creation journey.
“Bumstead is a world-class figure in his field and an exceptional professional. I hope to one day achieve what he achieved,” Hatem concluded.
The challenges of pumping iron during war
Being a bodybuilder in Gaza presents unique challenges.
Surviving the war meant that Hatem had to drastically reduce his daily exercise time from three hours to about 30 minutes.
Due to severe food shortage 1.84 million out of 2.3 million people in Gaza Strip According to the United Nations, on the brink of famine, Hatem had to stop exercising for days on end at a time. His muscle mass also decreased over several months as his body weight dropped from 58 kg (128 lb) to 53 kg (117 lb) before gradually recovering.
His noisy and repetitive movements also took a toll on him.
Hatem recalls the terrible day on October 14, 2023, when Israeli aircraft fired five missiles over three hours, bombing just eight meters from his home.
“We faced a moment when we were sure we would not survive,” he says. During this time, they managed to survive by hosting 50 displaced people from the north.
One of Hatem’s most painful moments was returning from a trip to nearby Rafa to find his home destroyed.
“It felt like the world was ending and any possibility of returning to a normal life was gone. We were hoping to rescue something from the house, but everything was gone,” he said.
He refuses to lament these losses through his channels. “There are enough stories of tragedy,” he says. But even though uploading videos is a tedious process using only a few basic media tools (a cell phone, a small stand) and frequent internet outages, Hatem continues to share his story, which is an equal mix of hope and hardship.
“I want to show resilience and inspire others who have more resources than us. “My dream is to show them what is possible in Gaza.”
In a moment of calm after the sometimes intense aerial bombardment, Hatem commutes to a gym in the center of Khan Younis where he can finally work out in proper gym equipment.
“Even if resources are lacking, the will is there.” He says, lifting bricks and buckets of water instead of weights.
“I want people to know what we’re going through. But it’s more than just our pain. “It’s about finding the strength to live.”
This story was published in collaboration with . Egap.
