Before the war, al-Dabba owned more than 400 beehives spread across eastern Gaza. Al-Dabba, who also serves as president of the Gaza Beekeepers’ cooperative society, says beekeeping became a passion long before it became a profession. Over the years, he specialised in producing honey, breeding queen bees, and developing bee strains adapted to Gaza’s climate. “I don’t feel that I’m only taking care of bees,” al-Dabba says. Standing among the hives on the damaged rooftop, al-Dabba says the bees remind him of the people of Gaza.