Jordanian-Palestinian Mountaineer Mostafa Salameh Carries Gaza Children’s Kite to Everest Summit

A kite carrying handwritten messages from Palestinian children in Gaza was carried to the summit of Mount Everest by a team of mountaineers, as the hopes and dreams of the children reached “the top of the world.”

The team summited Everest at 10:48 AM on Thursday, with Mostafa Salameh, a Jordanian-Palestinian mountaineer who led the expedition, confirming the milestone via social media.

Al Jazeera

Salameh, who had previously summited Everest, stayed at Base Camp 1 due to frostbite and blood clotting issues, while a team of Nepali Sherpas led by Italian filmmaker and explorer Leonardo Avezzano carried the kite.

In an Al Jazeera video posted on Instagram, Salameh said, "After months of preparation, sacrifice, training, fear, hope, prayer, and carrying the burden of a message much larger than myself, the kite carrying the dreams of the children of Gaza is now flying above the highest point on Earth."

The expedition was framed as part of Rising Dreams, a global awareness and fundraising campaign using the symbolic ascent of Everest to amplify the voices, dreams, and survival of children in Gaza amidst ongoing war, blockade, starvation, and displacement.

Onlinekhabar English says the team is raising support for children in Gaza through the Al Khair Foundation, and it describes the kite as made from a Palestinian flag and carrying handwritten dreams and messages from children in Gaza.

Al Jazeera

In a filmed account cited by بوابة الوسط, Salama said the children’s messages reflect ambition and sadness after they were met near the Rafah border crossing after crossing into Egypt.

Salama told AFP, as quoted by بوابة الوسط, that the number 47 was requested by a girl to memorialize family members killed in the war, and he also said, "My dream is to see Palestine free one day, and to be able to visit it."

After the summit push, Salameh said the expedition was “not over yet,” with climbing Everest described as only half the journey and Leonardo and his team’s next goal to return safely to Base Camp.

“From Gaza's children's messages”

Al-Nahar

Ratopati reports that depending on the weather, they would decide whether to stay at Camp 4 or descend to Camp 2, while Salameh ended his video with a chant of “Free, Free Palestine.”

Onlinekhabar English says the Rising Dreams Expedition Team participated in a public talk in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Monday, with the event joined live on Zoom by children in Gaza.

In the same account, Onlinekhabar English says the summit push and the subsequent Kathmandu talk were organized to amplify voices and survival, and it describes children in Gaza joining live as “a shared moment of reflection, solidarity, and celebration.”