A boy’s lilting song drifted through a tent in Gaza City, weaving over the soft hum of instruments and the quiet harmonies of backing singers – a fragile melody that seemed almost otherworldly amid streets now more accustomed to the deadly rhythm of bombs and bullets.
On Aug. 4, young students gathered for a lesson led by teachers from the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music, who have continued instructing from displacement camps and damaged buildings after Israel’s bombardments forced the closure of the school’s main facility.
“When I play, I feel like I’m flying away,” said 15-year-old Rifan al-Qassas, who began learning the oud, an Arab lute, at age 9. “Music gives me hope and eases my fear.”
Palestinian Rifan Al-Qassas holds an oud as she poses for a portrait at Gaza College, where instructors from Edward Said National Conservatory of Music train Palestinians, Gaza City, Palestine, Aug. 9, 2025. (Reuters Photo)
Al-Qassas dreams of performing abroad one day. That aspiration resonated during a weekend class at Gaza College, a school battered by shelling. Violence returned to parts of the city on Aug. 12, with Gazan health authorities reporting more than 120 deaths over recent days.
