Ruptly
"Amidst the skeletal remains of her war-ravaged home in the Gaza Strip, young Palestinian artist Arij Al-Saafin - whose life and vision were forever altered after losing an eye during the conflict with Israel - pursues her passion for art by turning the very walls scarred by shelling into her canvas, using shards of charcoal to replace the art supplies she lost to the violence. Footage shows Arij sketching works of art on the wall with small chunks of burned embers. The damage to her home and the destruction of neighbouring houses also visible. Arij recalled the devastating moment an alleged Israeli attack on her home left her with life-changing injuries, killing her brother and nephew. "When I was struck, I was thrown away, and a piece of stone hit me. A small shard entered my eye, causing bleeding in my brain and eye. Also, I suffered a tear in my intestines, which led doctors to remove my small intestine and to stop the bleeding in my eye, they had to enucleate my right eye," she said. After a long displacement, Arij and her mother returned to find their home in ruins with charred walls and collapsed ceilings, and for the young artist, the tools of her craft destroyed. "When we came back [after displacement], my drawings, papers and easel were gone like everything else even the A4 papers I used to sketch on, charcoal pencils and all art supplies vanished," she recalled. "I held the charcoal and started sketching on the wall. I wondered, why not try to resume painting using them? Since then, I have been drawing on the wall. I may not have boards or paper, but I have the wall," she added. Arij expressed how, despite the ongoing pain of her injuries, she uses the experience as a source of inspiration for her artwork. "The eyes I draw, set behind prison bars, symbolise that we, the visually impaired, are imprisoned by our suffering, with no one paying attention to us," she explained. "Our suffering goes unnoticed. They treat our injuries as if they are normal, and we are expected to simply adapt to reality," she added. In January, US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff announced the launch of phase two of President Trump’s 20-point plan to end the Gaza conflict, which included transitions from the ceasefire to demilitarisation, installing a technocratic administration and reconstruction. The Israel-Hamas war erupted on October 7, 2023, after the movement staged attacks, resulting in the deaths of 1,139 people, mostly Israeli civilians, and the capture of over 200 others. In response, the Israeli military launched an extensive military campaign in Gaza, involving airstrikes and a ground incursion, leaving 72,601 Palestinians dead and 172,419 others injured at the time of publication."
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