Amid shouts of joy and frustration, young boys in Gaza kicked footballs barefoot, creating a scene that could resemble any part of the world, yet this was a sandy football field nestled amid tents in conflict-ridden Gaza.
In Khan Younis, a southern city of the Palestinian coastal region, dozens gather for practice whenever possible on the improvised pitch located in the beach area of al-Mawasi.
"For the two hours during which the boys come to train and play football, they forget about their fear, about the bombing and the war," said football coach Muayad Abu Afash, who launched the initiative to train children.
"Of course, we're afraid," Khaled al-Akhras told Agence France-Presse (AFP) while his three sons ran across the field.
"But we got accustomed to keep on living our normal lives, even when shells are falling above our heads," the displaced father said.
Gaza has been ravaged by eight months of war triggered by Hamas' Oct. 7 incursion on southern Israel.
That attack resulted in the deaths of 1,194 people in Israel.
Hamas also took some 251 hostages, 120 of whom remain in Gaza.
In Israel's retaliatory bombardment and ground offensive, at least 36,550 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled Palestinian territory.
More than 1.7 million Palestinians have been displaced by the fighting and bombings, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
Abu Afash himself had to leave Gaza City for Khan Younis in the early days of the war before fleeing further south and then returning north as he tried to escape Israeli military operations.
All sports infrastructure in the Gaza Strip has been damaged in airstrikes, he said. "Stadiums have been destroyed," he added.
Football fever
Displaced children no longer go to school except for a few local initiatives providing some improvised schooling where the teaching is limited.
Nongovernment organizations frequently try to organize activities such as art workshops or clown and puppet shows, but the majority of young children spend their days idling on the streets.
"All this has a great impact on their psychological state as well as on their physical state," said coach Abu Afash, highlighting the importance of social interactions and physical activity for children.
For all players on the pitch, each and every game is already a small victory. Just a few weeks ago, Abu Afash was looking for a ball and a whistle.
"There aren't even any sports uniforms available, so the children come to practice barefoot," he said from the sidelines, which he fears may contain glass shards or other debris that could injure his future football champions.
Palestinians are football-mad, all but guaranteeing that Abu Afash's training scheme would prove popular.
In late April, as the threat of a large-scale Israeli offensive loomed over Rafah, the far-southern city of Gaza, where more than a million people had taken shelter, the love of the beautiful game was very much evident.
Dozens of young men gathered at a cafe to watch the La Liga game between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Standing in the enthralled crowd, Watan Ahmed, wearing a Torino Juventus jersey, described what it was like to be there.
"Look at these people, they are all exhausted, they all lost a member of their family or a relative," he told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"But we want to be happy, and the simple things in life make us happy."