Families evacuated from Gaza enjoy a day to decompress at Rome’s ancient baths

ROME (AP) — The Baths of Caracalla, the sumptuously decorated public baths complex near the Colosseum, were long a place of leisure, healthcare and relaxation for ancient Romans.

On Sunday, the place provided a different sort of decompression to a group of Palestinian children and their families who had been evacuated from Gaza for medical care, thanks to Italy’s program of “humanitarian corridors.”

“We brought families with children so they could experience visiting an ancient archaeological site,” Luisa delle Fratte, a tour guide in the group Guides for Gaza, told The Associated Press. “We also offered them a snack, some games and moments of social interaction and togetherness.”

Ordinary Italian families milled about the sprawling site, some settling on the grass to enjoy the springtime sun. The Palestinian families, all of whom now reside in Rome, blended right in — following their tour guide and translator, taking selfies in front of the ruins and watching the jets of water shooting upward from the new reflecting pool. Organizers say they intended the day as a respite from medical treatments and memories of the war.

“I was injured and lost my ability to speak, as well as mobility and normal function in my hand and leg,” 13-year-old Ahmed Skena said, struggling to string together his words. He haltingly added that he also lost his father and brother in the war.

Mariam Dawwas, 25, attended with her husband and four young children, one of whom is ill. They wound up in Italy after being displaced over 10 times.

“Thank God, I am still in a better situation than in Gaza, away from the bombing. At least I am safe, I have shelter, and there is light for my children,” she said.

Some of the families at Caracalla on Sunday knew each other from Gaza, but hadn’t seen one another since their evacuation, said delle Fratte of Guides for Gaza, a network founded last year in Umbria and Tuscany, and recently expanded to Naples and Rome.

“It was very beautiful to see them there embracing again and meeting one another once more,” she said.

While the Palestinian families toured the ruins, other guides offered tours to Italians in exchange for donations to support Gazzella, a nonprofit involved in child protection projects in the Gaza Strip.

The war in Gaza began with a 2023 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, in which the militants killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and abducted 251. More than 72,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians. The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government, maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts.

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This story has corrected the name of the nonprofit in the penultimate graf to Gazzella.