GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Gazans have resorted to different means to express their tragic lives and draw the world's attention to their poor living conditions. Chief among these is satirical art, which, through expressing people's hardships in a satirical way, helps put smiles on the faces of the downtrodden citizens of Gaza.

Gaza’s residents have long endured numerous crises: power outages, fluctuating fuel and gas availability, the Rafah crossing closing, high unemployment and poverty levels, and deteriorating political and economic conditions.

According to actor and theater expert Ali Abu Yassin, Gazans are eager to laugh and smile, so many have made attempts at a black comedy that reflects the Palestinian reality, in a way that relieves the audience.

Abu Yassin told Al-Monitor, “Up until recently, the theatrical and art works in Gaza would deal with the problems in a serious way, given the nature of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that has [pained] the Palestinians over several decades. Subsequently, however, some tragicomic works emerged. These were not purely tragic or comic, but rather a mix of the two genres.”