Inside Gaza’s Women-Only Boxing Club

For women and girls displaced by war, the Gaza Boxing Women Club offers athletic training and a place to gather, cope, and keep moving forward together.

In the Gaza Strip, where much of the cityscape has been reduced to rubble and rows of tents for displaced families, a different kind of sound echoes through the air. Not the whistle of a projectile or the rumble of a bulldozer, but the sharp, rhythmic “thud” of boxing gloves hitting improvised pads. The sound comes from the Gaza Boxing Women club, an organization offering structure, community, and a rare sense of control to Gazan women.

Since the outbreak of the war involving Israel, the United States, and Iran, much of the world’s attention has shifted to the broader regional escalation. But Gaza is still in crisis. Despite the ceasefire that has largely held since last year, violence has continued sporadically, humanitarian conditions are dire, and access to food, medicine, and aid is severely limited.

Still, the club recently reopened its Gaza City branch. Like its southern branch, it now operates out of a temporary tent.

“In addition to the Al Mawasi branch based in a tent, we recently reopened a branch in Gaza City, also housed in a tent,” said coach Osama Ayoub, one of the trainers. What he told me painted a picture of extreme scarcity: “In recent months, I have received only two tents from UNICEF and no other help or equipment. We train to keep the spirit alive, even if the walls are gone.”

The athletes use pillows as punching bags and plastic chairs for drills. Most of the original equipment is gone.

The club’s journey began in 2020. Founded by Rima Abu Rahma, then 21, it was born out of a desire to challenge social taboos in a conservative society that views boxing as a strictly male sport. Rima chose to take up boxing as a means of self-protection, rejecting the societal notion that women must rely solely on men for their defense. She started with private sessions, but as her story spread on social media, more women joined. Initially, the group was forced to split into two separate sessions to accommodate rapid growth, eventually reaching 45 active athletes. As more women joined, the club became both a training space and a support network. When the war intensified, the physical gym was destroyed, but the community relocated to the tents of Al Mawasi, near Khan Younis.

Rima currently coordinates the club’s ongoing operations from France, after moving there from Egypt to continue her academic pursuits. From this remote vantage point, she is the project’s primary coordinator, navigating the challenges of displacement and bearing witness to the girls’ daily struggles. She traveled abroad shortly before the war to pursue a master’s degree in entrepreneurship, intending to bring back management skills to the club. “I am now homeless, waiting for the borders to open so I can go back and rebuild,” she explained. From abroad, she manages the club’s digital presence and fundraising, ensuring the project does not fade from view. While some members are still in Gaza, others have been displaced to Norway or Egypt, yet the club strives to keep everyone connected through video calls to maintain their essential support network. In addition to coach Ayoub, the project is powered by female volunteers who manage key operations, including media and communications.

The club is a vital outlet for grief. Sisters Razan and Nouran Al-Louh, just 13 and 15, were killed by sniper fire while at home with their father. Malak Musleh, 21, was killed in a bombing at a beachside café. The loss of Ali Abdellshafi, vice president of the Palestinian Boxing Federation, also left a void. “Ali taught us that boxing is not just about throwing punches in the ring; it is a lifestyle, a way of resisting,” Rima noted. For these women, every training session is a tribute to those who can no longer fight.

At the height of the famine in Gaza, the club became a support network. “During the famine, we made sure to eat together so that the girls would have at least one healthy meal a day,” says Rima. “We couldn’t control the bombings, but we could share food so we wouldn’t lose more people to starvation.” This mutual aid allowed the athletes to maintain their health and hope in the face of extreme deprivation.

The international community has not been entirely blind to their struggle. In 2025, the Gaza Boxing Women Club was honored at the WEmbrace Awards in Milan, Italy. Recognized in the International “World” category, the award highlighted the club’s role in empowering women and promoting perseverance.

Today, the club continues to train girls and women from ages 7 to 46. Participants are grouped by weight and height, allowing women of all ages to step into the sand-covered, makeshift ring. The presence of adult boxers is a formidable example for younger girls, demonstrating that they do not have to abandon their passion as they grow up or succumb to the pressures of a society that would prefer they get married and hang up their gloves.

For at least one hour a day, the club offers a brief break to women and girls who desperately need an outlet, a community, and a purpose. As Gaza City slowly rebuilds, the reopening of the club—even from inside a tent—is a small step toward something better for the community. “Our goal is to return to Gaza City to reconstruct the destroyed club,” Rima said.

Until then, the ring might just be a patch of sand, but the fight for restoration and healing continues, one punch at a time.

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