Gaza Residents Turn War Rubble Into Homemade Wind Turbines for Electricity
KHAN YOUNIS: Displaced Palestinians in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis are turning scrap metal and debris from destroyed buildings into homemade wind turbines to generate electricity amid widespread power shortages.
Kamal Al-Dabary, a 60-year-old former engineering student, has developed improvised wind-powered generators using discarded materials to provide electricity to families living in displacement camps.
The turbines are assembled from old scooter motors, water tanks cut into blades and electrical components recovered from damaged homes. When wind turns the blades, the motors generate electricity that passes through makeshift circuits before being stored in batteries.
The locally constructed systems provide enough power to charge mobile phones and operate lights, fans and electric razors. They can also help families keep essential medical equipment running when electricity is urgently needed.
Gaza’s electricity infrastructure has suffered extensive destruction during the conflict. More than 90 per cent of the territory’s power generation and distribution capacity had been destroyed by April 2026, leaving most displaced residents without reliable access to electricity.
Rising prices have also made conventional alternatives increasingly difficult to obtain. Al-Dabary said a single solar panel now costs at least 15,000 Israeli shekels, nearly $5,000, putting it beyond the reach of many families.
With employment and income severely disrupted, he turned to materials available in the surrounding rubble to develop an alternative source of power.
The improvised turbines produce relatively limited electricity, but their contribution is significant for families living in tents and temporary shelters.
Residents have also described the system as an important source of support during medical emergencies, particularly when children require devices such as nebulisers during the night.
For displaced families facing prolonged shortages, the initiative offers a practical way to access basic electricity using materials that would otherwise remain discarded.
Although these homemade generators cannot replace Gaza’s damaged electricity infrastructure, they demonstrate how local technical skills and recycled materials are helping residents address immediate humanitarian needs.
