Lucky dip Bathers flock to cleaned-up beaches

0n the beach in Sheikh Ijlin, a neighbourhood south of Gaza City, no one is paying attention to a nearby] Islamic Jihad military drill.

- Bethan McKernan and Hazem Balousha

Children run in and out of the Mediterranean waves, begging their parents for camel rides and candy floss, ignoring the thuds as rockets belonging to the Palestinian militant group hit the water.

Thanks to a sewage cleanup effort, for the first time in years most of the Gaza Strip's coast is clean enough to swim in. This summer, thousands are rediscovering the besieged territory's foremost recreational outlet.

"We didn't come for seven years because the water was not safe. Now it looks so much better The colour is different, more blue," said Nabila Haniya, 40, who sat at a picnic table with several other women while their children played.