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The Independent ·Behind the news

The Woman Who Turned Cooking Oil Into Soap in Gaza

by Ezz Al Din Abu Eisha

Published 2026-06-20 08:01:09+00:00

How do a person’s lifelong skills survive when the only tools left are in the rubble?

0:00 / 8:22 · Narrator Algieba

Context

Writing on 20 June 2026, Ezz Al Din Abu Eisha observes the makeshift laboratories and sewing stations appearing in Gaza’s displacement camps. The reporting follows women like Marwa, a chemist who uses burnt cooking oil to make soap, and Huda, who turns old blankets into children’s jackets. It moves past the familiar imagery of the conflict to look at how professional expertise becomes a primary tool for survival. The piece considers what remains when infrastructure vanishes, and how specialized knowledge functions as a form of civic resistance.

Show notes

Displaced women in Gaza are repurposing waste materials to produce essential goods, establishing a localized parallel economy in the absence of traditional infrastructure. The adaptation of professional skills, including chemistry to manufacture soap from cooking oil and tailoring to upcycle blankets into clothing, addresses critical public health needs. These initiatives offer a primary source of income for the tens of thousands of female-headed households now sustaining Gaza’s economy.

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