PALESTINIANS in the Gaza Strip are delivering books by bicycle to children in refugee camps who have been ordered not to go out during the coronavirus pandemic.

Osama Fayyad, who started the initiative, said that books had been inaccessible in libraries because of the emergency measures.

He organised a team of volunteers who sterilise each book and deliver them on bikes on Saturdays, collecting them on Tuesdays.

A similar initiative in February brought films to children in Gaza’s eight refugee camps, home to more than 1.2 million people, via a mobile cinema.

Most of Palestine’s 5m refugees were driven out in the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 or are descendants of the displaced families.

Palestine has recorded 273 cases of Covid-19, with two deaths, a figure likely to rise given the poor sanitation and cramped conditions caused by Israeli occupation and blockades.

Those interested in accessing the mobile library service can contact the Bicycle: For Us Is Life team and place orders on Facebook.