Sewing Hope in Gaza

Israa Abu Al-Qumsan, 33, is a displaced woman living in Al-Zohour Camp in Al-Nasr neighborhood, Gaza City. She lost both her home and sewing workshop during the war, yet she refused to give up her passion for tailoring.

When a sense of relative stability returned after the ceasefire, Israa decided to revive her project. She announced on her Instagram account that she was ready to take customer orders again and to train young women in sewing.

Inside her small tent, Israa now trains two groups of girls, each consisting of four trainees, on a nearly daily basis and free of charge. Her goal is to empower them and help them generate income in extremely difficult conditions. Despite having only one sewing machine and very limited supplies of fabric and thread, she continues working. Shortages of materials, high prices, and electricity cuts make the process even harder.

She says:

“I try to help women have a source of income. The war has left no home without a martyr, injured, or lost loved one. Many women are now responsible for their families.”

The response to her initiative surprised her, with requests coming from all parts of Gaza—north, central, and south—just like before the war. This encouraged her to continue despite the challenges.

Today, she produces only one or two pieces per day, but she dreams of expanding her work and opening a larger workshop that can produce clothes on a wider scale for the local market in Gaza.

Israa says that when she first returned to sewing, she thought she would need to relearn everything. Instead, she discovered that her hands still remembered. When she turned on the machine for the first time after the war, she felt as if she had reclaimed her identity—not just a displaced mother in a tent, but a seamstress as she has always been.

She adds:

“I feel I accomplish more than before, maybe because life in the tent requires more organization and focus.”

Israa’s goal goes beyond her own project; it is about empowering women to build sources of income in a reality where many families have lost their breadwinners.

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