Tucked among his expedition gear is the kite in red, black, white and green of the Palestinian flag, marked with handwritten messages from children in the battered territory.The war, sparked by Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel, has killed more than 72,000 people in Gaza, according to the territory's health ministry which operates under Hamas authority.The simple wishes -- shaped by loss, grief and displacement -- reflect hope for a future beyond conflict.Palestinian-Jordanian Salameh, 56, also wants to raise $10 million for the UK-based charity Al-Khair Foundation, which provides nutrition, sanitation, shelter and psychological support to Gazans."We have all these dreams of the children of Gaza that's going to go up to the top of the world because they can't do anything now in Gaza," Salameh told AFP in a video interview."They don't have homes or education. Everything is being done in a tent. And they don't have access to clean water, proper food or proper medication," said the mountaineer, who met the children at the Rafah border after they crossed into Egypt.
Hundreds of thousands of people are still living in tents in the Gaza Strip, pictured in January, and conditions remain dire despite the ceasefire © Bashar Taleb / AFP/File
