The gardener of Gaza: sowing hope by growing vegetables amid the rubble
In an old bathtub, plastic buckets, a tin can and other containers of all shapes and sizes foraged from the debris left by nearly a year of war, Mohammed Qomssan and his family grow the vegetables that are now a rare luxury in Gaza.
Their aubergines, jute, rocket and peppers are unlikely signs of green plant life in the Jabalia refugee camp – a once-bustling neighbourhood reduced to a landscape of concrete rubble and cratered roads by two Israeli Defense Force (IDF) ground operations.
Qomssan’s family started their horticultural efforts after returning in mid-June from their second time being displaced by attacks to find only two habitable rooms left in their house.
