Aya al-Shawa, a 10-year-old sixth-grade student in northern Gaza, clutches one of her most valued possessions: a recently acquired book. Its journey to her hands was harrowing. Before arriving at Aya’s door, the volume sat on a shelf until an Israeli airstrike leveled the building, burying it under debris. Afterward, rescuers recovered, cleaned, and repaired the damaged pages, giving the book a second life.
Amid what the UN describes as widespread destruction in Gaza, books have become an exceptionally scarce commodity. According to UNICEF, approximately 98% of the territory’s school buildings have been destroyed or damaged. With roughly 700,000 children deprived of regular in-person education since the conflict began in October 2023, these restored volumes serve as vital tools for reconnecting with learning.
UNESCO has documented extensive damage to cultural institutions, including libraries, across the strip. However, since a ceasefire took hold in October 2025, leading to a relative decrease in bombing, there has been a renewed effort to revive these literary resources.
Mohammed Saad, a 54-year-old book collector from Beit Lahiya, knows the stakes personally. Prior to the war, he estimated his library held between 50,000 and 100,000 titles. When his home was destroyed on December 7, 2023, Saad endured 16 displacements before returning to the rubble of his former residence. “I risked my life to save these books from beneath the rubble,” he said.
He managed to salvage about 12,000 volumes, transporting them to Deir el-Balah where he set up a tent-based library named Athar, which translates to “impact” but also connotes historical relics. Saad and his son Mohammed now spend their days cleaning and repairing thousands of books. The library charges symbolic fees ranging from 5 to 15 shekels ($1.63-$4.89), as most families can no longer afford market prices. While the tent offers some shelter, Saad notes that exposure to sun, humidity, and rain remains a persistent threat to the fragile collection.
Elsewhere, Omar Hamad, a 30-year-old displaced resident of Beit Hanoon, has led efforts to locate and rescue books from destroyed libraries in northern Gaza and Gaza City. Along with his team, Hamad has retrieved approximately 3,000 volumes. Sources include rubble, donations from families of those killed, and reprinted copies. Among the finds was a 1956 edition of The Catastrophe of Palestine, discovered scattered among the ruins of the Islamic University of Gaza library.
Recovery is only the first step. Hamad and his associates clean dust and debris from the pages. For more complex restorations, they turn to experts like Jameel Mikdad, a 71-year-old bookbinder in the Shati refugee camp. Despite having his own library and printing shop destroyed, Mikdad has continued his work for over 45 years, utilizing limited resources to glue torn sections, sew bindings, and rearrange pages.
The economic landscape for restoration has shifted dramatically due to Israel’s siege and wartime damage. Mikdad reported that a 3kg container of white glue, which cost 30-35 shekels ($9.78-11.48) before the war, now sells for 450-500 shekels ($146.74-163.05). Repairs can take anywhere from two days to a week, and sometimes the cost exceeds the book’s value. Consequently, some volumes are lost; Hamad noted that books with 80-90% damage were often abandoned.
In some cases, books with bullet holes or fire scars are retained not for reading, but as evidence. “We took them with us so they could remain witnesses to this crime,” Hamad said.
For the books that are saved, Hamad’s Phoenix Library prioritizes distribution over profit. Oper2ating on a lending model, readers pay a refundable deposit of 50 shekels ($16.30) to borrow one or two books weekly. The collection spans literature, medicine, law, history, economics, science, and specialized student texts.
Through initiatives delivering books to schools, the goal is to return these items to their original purpose: facilitating reading and education. Aya’s copy of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Adventure of the Empty House exemplifies this cycle. In schools that often operate out of crowded tents, such books provide a crucial anchor for continuing education.
The narrative of the rescued book mirrors the resilience of its people. From a shelf in a Gaza home or library to the devastation of air raids, then to the rubble, through the hands of restorers, and finally to a student’s grasp, the book has survived destruction to once again be opened and read.
Does anyone know if international organizations are providing funding for these restoration efforts, or are they entirely reliant on local volunteers?
I had no idea book prices had skyrocketed so drastically due to the siege. The economic impact on basic supplies is staggering.
The resilience of these volunteers is truly inspiring. They are preserving history and education against all odds.