<p>The bell rings in a gloomy basement in the Gaza Strip and two teenage girls wearing headgear and gloves start circling each other in the ring.</p>.<p>Family and friends cheer them on as they begin landing punches in the first female-only boxing tournament in the Palestinian enclave.</p>.<p>The thunderous voice of the commentator drowns out the small crowd that has defied the coronavirus pandemic to come and watch.</p>.<p>One of the young fighters, Farah Abu al-Qomsan, 15, says she had long followed boxing online before switching from the screen to the ropes.</p>.<p>"I used to watch boxers like Mike Tyson and Muhammad Ali, I love watching them fight," she enthused.</p>.<p>"They are really good and often win their fights in the first round."</p>.<p>Girls and women competed according to their weight categories at the tournament last Friday.</p>.<p>"Many people think what we are doing is wrong, that we are acting in defiance of morals and traditions," said one fighter, Rita Abu Rahma, 20.</p>.<p>"But for me, my family and friends, it is all normal, and they all support me."</p>.<p>"Boxing doesn't take anything away from my femininity, from being a woman," said Abu Rahma, sporting long brown hair.</p>.<p>"Boys and girls have the right to practise the sport of their choice."</p>.<p>The Gaza Strip is a densely populated Palestinian coastal territory of two million people, ruled for more than a decade by Islamist movement Hamas.</p>.<p>Subject to an Israeli blockade, it has a flagging economy and a jobless rate of around 50 per cent, rising to 65 per cent among young people.</p>.<p>"We are an Olympic boxing club, but we don't have the resources" to provide gloves and headgear for all, said coach Oussama Ayoub, 35.</p>.<p>He said he was proud of organising the tournament despite being cash-strapped, and hopes to soon be able to take the boxers out of Gaza for regional competitions.</p>.<p>"This is a first in Palestine, a women's boxing tournament," he said.</p>.<p>"We had 45 competitors today and the best will qualify" to represent the Palestinians at a championship in Kuwait in February, he said.</p>.<p>He expressed hope that Israel would let the athletes pass through the Erez crossing so they could travel to the Gulf state.</p>.<p>The team also hopes the pandemic will abate before then.</p>.<p>Having long been spared a large coronavirus caseload, the isolated enclave has been hit hard in recent weeks, recording 891 new cases on Saturday alone.</p>
<p>The bell rings in a gloomy basement in the Gaza Strip and two teenage girls wearing headgear and gloves start circling each other in the ring.</p>.<p>Family and friends cheer them on as they begin landing punches in the first female-only boxing tournament in the Palestinian enclave.</p>.<p>The thunderous voice of the commentator drowns out the small crowd that has defied the coronavirus pandemic to come and watch.</p>.<p>One of the young fighters, Farah Abu al-Qomsan, 15, says she had long followed boxing online before switching from the screen to the ropes.</p>.<p>"I used to watch boxers like Mike Tyson and Muhammad Ali, I love watching them fight," she enthused.</p>.<p>"They are really good and often win their fights in the first round."</p>.<p>Girls and women competed according to their weight categories at the tournament last Friday.</p>.<p>"Many people think what we are doing is wrong, that we are acting in defiance of morals and traditions," said one fighter, Rita Abu Rahma, 20.</p>.<p>"But for me, my family and friends, it is all normal, and they all support me."</p>.<p>"Boxing doesn't take anything away from my femininity, from being a woman," said Abu Rahma, sporting long brown hair.</p>.<p>"Boys and girls have the right to practise the sport of their choice."</p>.<p>The Gaza Strip is a densely populated Palestinian coastal territory of two million people, ruled for more than a decade by Islamist movement Hamas.</p>.<p>Subject to an Israeli blockade, it has a flagging economy and a jobless rate of around 50 per cent, rising to 65 per cent among young people.</p>.<p>"We are an Olympic boxing club, but we don't have the resources" to provide gloves and headgear for all, said coach Oussama Ayoub, 35.</p>.<p>He said he was proud of organising the tournament despite being cash-strapped, and hopes to soon be able to take the boxers out of Gaza for regional competitions.</p>.<p>"This is a first in Palestine, a women's boxing tournament," he said.</p>.<p>"We had 45 competitors today and the best will qualify" to represent the Palestinians at a championship in Kuwait in February, he said.</p>.<p>He expressed hope that Israel would let the athletes pass through the Erez crossing so they could travel to the Gulf state.</p>.<p>The team also hopes the pandemic will abate before then.</p>.<p>Having long been spared a large coronavirus caseload, the isolated enclave has been hit hard in recent weeks, recording 891 new cases on Saturday alone.</p>