First Gazan to compete in World Boxing Championships: ‘My people are in need of help’

Shams Al-Tayeb, a 24-year-old Palestinian boxer from Gaza, is preparing to make history as the first Palestinian from Gaza to compete in the World Boxing Championship (WBC). But, for Al-Tayeb, his fight is not just in the ring – he is fighting for the freedom and future of his people. Now based in Cyprus, he trains while his heart remains firmly in Gaza, where his family still lives under constant threat.

“My family is still there in Gaza. My brother, my sister and her children are trapped. And my father is also there. He refuses to leave,” Al-Tayeb shares, underlining the deep ties that still bind him to his home, despite the physical distance.

Every day, while training in Cyprus, he receives updates about the increasingly dire situation back home. The mental strain of being thousands of miles away from his family, aware they have no safe area to flee, pushes him to his limits. “I’m in both sides at the same time. While I’m here trying to compete, my mind and energy is constantly working and thinking of ways to help my people in Gaza any way I can.”

Boxing, for Al-Tayeb, began as a necessity. Before pursuing a career in the ring, he was a businessman, managing companies and running agencies. However, the worsening situation in Gaza pushed him to transform his passion for boxing into a profession. “I’ve always been a businessman. I had my own agency and my own companies, but I got forced to use my hobby to make a profit,” he explains.

His entry into the world of boxing was not driven by a desire for fame or fortune, but by a need to protect. Growing up in the Tal-Al Hawa neighbourhood, based south of Gaza city, his early years were filled with both normal childhood memories and the haunting realities of living under Israel’s brutal siege.

At just 9 years old, Al-Tayeb lost his older brother who suffered a fatal bomb attack by the Israeli forces, a trauma that left an indelible mark on him. “I had a brother who got killed by the Israeli forces 15 years ago and I’m the one who collected his body from the streets,” he shares.

He also recounted his father’s terrifying brushes with death while covering Israel’s violence in Gaza during previous wars. Shams Ouda, a veteran journalist reporting for Reuters, once faced a near-fatal shot to the chest. The bullet, fired by an Israeli soldier, missed his heart by only five centimetres. Presumed dead, he was placed in a body bag and taken to the morgue.

“My father was shot right next to his heart,” Al-Tayeb recalls. “He woke up in the morgue. Can you imagine that? I had already grieved over him, cried and was prepared to bury him.”

Such traumatic events became a turning point for Al-Tayeb, igniting a fierce determination to learn martial arts – not for sport, but for survival.

READ: Israel going ‘too far’ in war on Gaza, warns New Zealand

“As a child, I made up my mind to learn karate and boxing, all to protect myself and my family,” he says. “We were never taught how to use a gun. Everything we learned was for self-defence.” This survival instinct has stayed with him, both in and out of the ring.

Israeli forces have killed more than 41,200 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip in over 11 months of intense bombardment, including an estimated 16,700 children, according to health officials.

The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the Territory amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine.

The emotional burden of receiving daily updates from friends and family about the dire conditions in Gaza weighs heavily on Al-Tayeb. “A lot of messages come to me daily from people I know as well as people I don’t know, about their pain and loss, which is really devastating,” he shares, his frustration palpable. These cries for help, stories of hunger and suffering, are impossible for him to ignore. “I wake up under depression; I sleep in depression, hoping that it can all stop one day.”

Shams Al-Tayeb, a 24-year-old Palestinian boxer from Gaza, will compete in the World Boxing Championship (WBC)

Shams Al-Tayeb, a 24-year-old Palestinian boxer from Gaza, will compete in the World Boxing Championship (WBC)

Despite the overwhelming challenges, Al-Tayeb remains focused on his mission. His participation in the WBC represents more than just personal achievement—it is a way to amplify the voices of the people in Gaza. “I am not yet proud enough,” he admits. “My people are in need of help … in need of food, water, any needs of any normal human being.” He sees his role in the WBC as an opportunity to bring global attention to the humanitarian crisis in his homeland.

Gaza, for Al-Tayeb, is not just a place; it is a part of his identity, one that he carries with him everywhere. His memories of home, both beautiful and painful, shape his world view and drive his desire for change. “Tal-Al Hawa neighbourhood was a peaceful place,” he recalls, reflecting on his childhood before the wars. “It’s a small neighbourhood near the sea but, now, you can see nothing of it. It’s literally in rubble.”

“I miss everything in Gaza,” he adds. “I’ve been seeing better seas than Gaza’s sea, but I’ve never felt as comfortable as I feel there.”

As Shams Al-Tayeb prepares for the World Boxing Championship, he fights with fists of steel in the ring but, outside of it, his battle is for Gaza. His determination to see a free Gaza drives him to keep fighting. Al-Tayeb was selected to compete in the WBC World Boxing Championships in Turkiye last year. However, the event was cancelled following an earthquake that killed over 2,300 people in Turkiye and Syria. He has also been barred from competing in Dubai and the Olympics due to his Palestinian passport, following Israel’s ongoing war against Gaza. Now, he awaits confirmation for upcoming championships in Riyadh, Qatar and England.

Al-Tayeb understands that his journey is about more than just boxing; it is a fight for a future where his people can live without fear, where children can grow up without the constant threat of violence and where Gaza is free from oppression.

“All we want is a free Palestine,” he says, his voice steady with conviction. “Just a free Palestine, where Palestinians can live freely. It’s only a matter of time. We have to be patient.”

WATCH: Norwegian Footballer refuses Israeli ‘blood money’