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By Saleh Salem and Ibrahim Abu Mustafa
RAFA, Gaza Strip (Reuters) – Teenager Hussam al-Attar picked up two fans at a flea market and connected them with some wires to create his own source of electricity to light the tent where he and his family are living after Are. Displaced by Israel’s attack on Gaza.
In honor of his ingenuity, the people of the nearby tent camp have given him a nickname: the Newton of Gaza.
“They started calling me the Newton of Gaza because of the resemblance between me and Newton,” said al-Attar, who looks and sounds 15 years younger.
“Newton was sitting under an apple tree when an apple fell on his head and he discovered gravity. And we’re living here in darkness and tragedy, and rockets are falling on us, so I set about making light. Thought and did so.”
war in israel and gaza
![Topshot - People examine a damaged car that reportedly killed 3 people after being hit by an Israeli strike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, amid ongoing fighting between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, January 31, 2024 It was done. (Photo by Saeed Khatib/AFP) (Photo by Saeed Khatib/AFP via Getty Images)](https://www.usnews.com/object/image/0000018d-6baa-dbca-ad8f-6faf6a7d0000/gaza-israel-01.jpg?update-time=1706908363544&size=responsive640)
The English scientist Isaac Newton, who made immense advances in physics, mathematics, and astronomy in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, has emerged in the popular imagination because of the story of the apple.
More than half of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million are now trapped near the fence in Rafah, on the southern edge of the strip separating it from Egypt.
The al-Attar family has attached their tent to the side of a one-story house, allowing Hussam to climb onto the roof and install two of his fans, one on top of the other, to act as small wind turbines capable of charging batteries. Can do.
They then connected the fan to wires running down from the house, and used switches, lightbulbs, and a thin piece of plywood stretched across the tent to create a special lighting system for their family.
He said that his first two attempts failed and it took him a while to develop the system until he got it working on the third attempt.
He said, “I slowly started developing it further, until I was able to stretch wires through the room to the tent we were staying in, so that there would be light in the tent.”
“I was very happy that I could do this, because I reduced the suffering of my family, my mother, my sick father and my brother’s little children and all the people here who are suffering from the conditions in which we live during this time.” Have been.” war.”
According to Israel, the war was started by militants from the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, who attacked southern Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 and abducting 253.
Israel has responded with an all-out military assault on Gaza, vowing to destroy Hamas and free the hostages, which has killed more than 27,000 people, according to local health officials, and led to mass displacement and starvation. Is.
Amidst the disappointment, al-Attar still held on to his dreams and ambitions.
“I am very happy that people in this camp call me the Newton of Gaza, because I hope that I will be able to fulfill my dream of becoming a scientist like Newton and making an invention that will not only help the people of Gaza Strip but the whole world It will be beneficial.”
(Writing by Estelle Shirban; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
Copyright 2024 Thomson Reuters,
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