Gazan tailor turns to bicycle to power sewing machine

By Mahmoud Issa

GAZA (Reuters) - In Gaza, where energy is scarce, one Palestinian tailor has found a way to make the wheel of his sewing machine turn again in the chaos of war.

With a bicycle and help from his children, Raad Saad powers his sewing machine in the ruins of his factory as the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas rages.

Ten months into the war that has created severe fuel shortages and skyrocketing costs for alternative energy, Saad said the bicycle offered a glimmer of hope.

Saad was not always behind the machine. Before the war erupted, he ran a factory and employed 20 workers.

"I used to import and export every day," he recalled.

Saad's factory and his home in the same building were damaged by Israeli shelling and airstrikes. He managed to secure a small part of it, where he now works. 

He used bricks and fabric to set up the bicycle-powered machine. Saad's 13-year-old son Issa turns the pedals as his father sews.

"There is no money. This is why we came up with the alternative way, using small batteries and LED, and we are moving forward," Saad explained. 

Saad has been displaced four times in the war, like many of Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinians who struggled to make a living during the best of times in one of the world's most densely populated places.

Aside from trying to find a safe place to hide from the bombing, Palestinians also face a humanitarian crisis with severe shortages of power, fuel, water and medicine.

The war in Gaza started after Hamas burst through the border fence and attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking over 250 hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel hit back with an offensive that killed more than 39,600 Palestinians and flattened much of Gaza, according to Gaza authorities.

"We started our new journey using new solutions," Saad said. 

(Reporting by Catherine Cartier; Editing by Michael Georgy and Angus MacSwan)