An ice cream parlour survives Gaza’s genocide and gives seven students hope

On the coastal roadworthy successful Khan Younis successful confederate Gaza, 7 assemblage students – 4 successful medicine, 2 successful dentistry, 1 successful bundle engineering – are down the antagonistic of an crystal pick parlour.

One pupil takes the orders, hastily filling ice cream cups, adding nuts and toppings earlier handing them implicit to a enactment of customers with a smile. Another moves betwixt tables successful the tiny seating area, serving customers, portion a 3rd manages the kitchen, keeping everything successful order. A 4th handles the accounts, processing each transaction electronically since currency has mostly disappeared from Gaza.

Behind them all, is 1 of the founders, Ayyoub Abu Musleh, who is immersed successful a telephone with a supplier, negotiating prices for earthy materials that person gone up again owed to Israel’s ongoing siege connected the enclave.

They telephone themselves “the doctors”, but their regular customers person taken to calling them “the nerds”. It is simply a nickname the crystal pick vendors deterioration with pridefulness since it acknowledges their lives beyond Flora, the crystal pick and foodstuff store they opened successful March to wage for assemblage courses they garbage to abandon.

This tiny business, connected the Al-Rashid coastal roadworthy successful al-Mawasi, Khan Younis, is the lone mode these 7 students tin enactment enrolled astatine their universities and offers anticipation for a amended tomorrow.

Prices astatine Flora are competitory with products betwixt $1 to $7 [Mohamed Solaimane/Al Jazeera]

Gaza’s higher acquisition strategy has been mostly nonoperational since the genocide successful Gaza began successful October 2023, with astir 88,000 assemblage students forced to suspend their studies owed to the war.

Since then, the acquisition strategy has been ruined, with 95% of each campuses successful Gaza damaged oregon destroyed, portion 195 of 206 buildings person been severely oregon wholly destroyed, according to 1 2025 report.

For astir students surviving successful the besieged enclave, continuing their acquisition was impossible, but Flora’s founders are among the fewer exceptions, though their travel to found the store has not been easy.

Jihad al-Saqa, a 20-year-old pupil successful his 2nd twelvemonth of aesculapian schoolhouse astatine Al-Azhar University, described his harrowing experiences earlier helium founded Flora.

“I had searched for enactment each implicit al-Mawasi, wherever I unrecorded with my household successful displacement aft our location and onshore were struck by Israeli aerial strikes,” helium told Al Jazeera. “The jobs I recovered paid poorly and demanded 12-hour shifts, which were incompatible with the dedication and absorption my studies required.”

When a person approached Al-Saqa him to articulation him astatine Flora, helium didn’t deliberation twice.

“Two months in, I’m blessed and susceptible of balancing survey and enactment — contempt the carnal and intelligence exhaustion,” Al-Saqa said. He stands connected his feet for astir 7 hours per evening shift, serving customers with a non-negotiable smile, arsenic helium describes it. Hard enactment certainly, but it pays his tuition fees and helps enactment his family

Jihad al-Saqa is simply a aesculapian schoolhouse pupil and besides works astatine the crystal pick parlour [Mohamed Solaimane/Al Jazeera]

Al-Saqa was motivated to survey medicine aft helium memorised 23 retired of 30 chapters of the Quran, Islam’s beatified book.

“I felt that the aesculapian assemblage is of large payment to people, that God uses you to payment and prevention their lives,” helium tells Al Jazeera. “That’s what drives me, arsenic I’m seeking the reward successful the afterlife, not the worldly one,” helium humbly adds.

‘A task calved done blood’

After the warfare began, Qassem al-Agha, the lone bundle engineering pupil successful the radical and 1 of Flora’s 3 co-founders, recovered it intolerable to be classes at the Islamic University of Gaza.

His father’s income, which supports his household of 5 children, was slashed to $200 a month, not capable to wage for Al-Agha’s assemblage fees, portion their household location was destroyed by an Israeli aerial strike, adding a further load connected the family.

Al-Agha past acceptable retired connected a bid of jobs and enterprises to enactment himself, including a covering store and rootlike stall. He past sold acold drinks astatine a kiosk until Gaza’s famine successful 2025 saw request illness and the concern die.

That is erstwhile the thought of Flora came about, costing much than $25,000 to build. Al-Agha borrowed from his uncle and a friend, his parent sold a golden bracelet she had kept since her wedding successful 2004, worthy $1,000, to assistance the thought of the crystal pick parlour to beryllium realised.

“I was truthful bittersweet watching my parent merchantability a beauteous representation of her life,” al-Agha said. “But she insisted, truthful I could find enactment and instrumentality to university.”

Qassem al-Agha serves different lawsuit astatine Flora [Mohamed Solaimane/Al Jazeera]

The squad retrieved aged tiles, reinforced robust and timber from their destroyed homes adjacent the “Yellow Line” successful al-Qarara, northbound of Khan Younis, to assistance with operation of the parlour. It was a hard task fraught with information and a regular confrontation with decease for the students, Al-Agha remembers.

“A drone followed america adjacent our homes, we hardly escaped. My uncle Bassem al-Saqa, 45-years-old, was killed that time connected March 3, 2026,” helium said.

Ultimately, Flora opened connected March 19, the culmination of a hopeless concern and a determination to unrecorded done the genocide successful Gaza with dignity.

“Our task was calved done blood, hardship, and accumulated debt,” al-Agha, says arsenic helium hands implicit an crystal pick to different customer

“[But] Flora is not conscionable a project, it is life, anticipation and a aboriginal for everyone who works here.”

‘Challenges don’t comparison with war’

Running the crystal pick store isn’t without challenges, but Ahmed Shabir, a dentistry pupil astatine Al-Azhar University, says they inactive bash not comparison to what the warfare enactment them through.

Shabir was lone 18 erstwhile successful January 2024, Israeli tanks invaded the Amal neighbourhood of occidental Khan Younis, soon aft helium moved his parent and siblings to al-Mawasi. He rushed backmost location to enactment with his father, who is disabled but had nary wheelchair.

“I refused to wantonness my father, adjacent arsenic the tanks rolled in. For 3 days, I was utilized by Israeli soldiers arsenic a quality shield during raids connected homes and streets successful the neighbourhood — hungry, thirsty. I was definite I would not survive,” helium told Al Jazeera.

“So, erstwhile we conflict to root ingredients, oregon get much-needed equipment, it doesn’t comparison to being a quality shield, oregon to earlier that, erstwhile I tried to determination the wounded earlier they died and came backmost with my apparel soaked successful their blood. We person nary prime but to succeed.”

Ahmed Shabir, a dentistry student, has been a cardinal portion of Flora’s occurrence [Mohamed Solaimane/Al Jazeera]

To execute success, Shabir recognises that, arsenic a business, the merchandise has to basal connected its own. “The admiration for what we’re doing won’t past forever. What sustains it is the quality,” helium said.

The store sells crystal cream, caller juices, cake, knafeh and different sweets, with prices ranging from $1 to $7 – competitive, by al-Mawasi standards.

Ayyoub Abu Musleh, who handles accounts and lawsuit reception, says helium went into medicine aft his experiences astatine the European Hospital successful Gaza, wherever his parent Wafaa works arsenic a nurse. “As a child, I sat successful doctors’ chairs and was called ‘doctor’,” helium said.

His begetter is supporting 3 aesculapian students: Abu Musleh himself, successful his archetypal twelvemonth astatine Al-Azhar; his member Mohammed, successful his 2nd twelvemonth astatine the Islamic University of Gaza; and his sister Minnatallah, successful her 4th twelvemonth astatine Port Said University successful Egypt. Due to the fiscal burden, Abu Musleh had to defer his existent semester.

Ayyoub Abu Musleh handles accounts and lawsuit reception [Mohamed Solaimane/Al Jazeera]

He came adjacent to decease successful his pursuit for cognition before. On July 7, 2025, aft the Ministry of Education announced the commencement of online Tawjihi registration, Abu Musleh and immoderate friends returned to Khan Younis to retrieve schoolbooks from the rubble of their destroyed homes.

On his mode back, a drone struck, sidesplitting his 24-year-old person Adi al-Najili. The blast threw Abu Musleh dozens of metres distant but perchance saved his life, arsenic a 2nd onslaught deed the spot wherever helium was lasting seconds earlier. A 3rd drone dropped 4 bombs adjacent and helium laic connected the crushed bleeding for 3 hours until a passer-by returned with a donkey cart and took him and his friend’s assemblage to safety.

“After each of this, tin we beryllium defeated by immoderate challenge?” helium says. “Will we surrender to the trouble of paying assemblage fees erstwhile we astir paid with our lives to get our books? Of people not. We whitethorn beryllium delayed. But we volition not beryllium defeated.”

Saleh al-Abadla, who manages procurement and supply, keeps a tiny notebook signaling each disbursal and each shekel that comes in. He besides works connected improving the paper and consulting anyone with acquisition successful the nutrient concern for tips.

The shop’s indebtedness load is important — astir the full outgo of establishing Flora was borrowed — and helium knows it volition instrumentality clip to clear. But the Deir al-Balah municipal elections, and Flora’s humble regular gross are seen by these students arsenic grounds that institutions built nether unit tin basal firm.

“Self-reliance is nary longer a prime successful Gaza,” al-Abadla says. “It is simply a necessity. No 1 knows wherever Gaza is headed, oregon whether we volition beryllium capable to support studying. So we physique what we can, now, with what we have.”

Saleh al-Abadla focuses mostly connected operations astatine Flora [Mohamed Solaimane/Al Jazeera]

Yasmine Madi, a caregiver astatine an Italian session successful al-Mawasi, brings colleagues to Flora and tells everyone she knows astir this singular crystal pick parlour, offering Palestinians successful Gaza a respite from the genocide.

“It’s not conscionable to enactment aboriginal doctors, the spot is calm, the work is excellent, the products are delicious,” she said. “These young men are models that should beryllium followed.”